LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 



#1' 



'^-.^I^, A 



«*^ 





A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



FOR THE 



Home and the Heart, 



GATHERED BY THE AUTHOR AT LEISURE HOURS. 



From Nature's gorgeous expanse 

Around him. 
Her shining worlds 

Above him, 



Her glowing deeps 

Qelow liim, 
And fron) her whispering: galleries 

■\yithin him. 



/ 



BY 



REV. A. MEANS, D. D., LL.D, 

EMORY COLLEGE, OXFORD, QA., 1878. 



NEW YORK: 

E. J. HALE & SON, PUBLISHERS, 

Murray Street. 

1878. 




Tf 






Entered according; to Act of Congress, in the yenr 1878, 

By Eev. a. Means, D. D., LL. D., 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at ^Yasllington. 



STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED 

BY THE 

NATIONAL PRINTING CO., 

13 CHAMBERS STREET, 

NEW YORK. 



DEDICATION. 



PROMPTED BY A LONG-STANDING PERSONAL ATTACHMENT, 

AND BY 

VIVID MEMORIES OF THE "AULD LANG SYNEj" 
AS WELL AS BY A HIGH ESTIMATE OF 

THE MAN, THE MINISTEK, and THE BISHOP, 

THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS 
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR, 

TO THE 

REV, GEORGE F. PIERCE, D.D., LLD., 

BISHOP OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH. 



pfi^]el^«. 



These poetic effusions are tlie products of leisure hours, gained, 
througli many years past, from the pursuit of heavier and more im- 
perative duties, and are now respectfully and deferentially submitted 
to the public, at the repeated requests of many friends. Among them 
will be found Epic, Lyric, and Elegiac Poems, with Sacred Melodies, 
Sunday School Odes, and a few compositions, designed, when Avritten, 
as Ministerial Solos, for public and special occasions, and at a time 
when this element of public worship was more frequently employed 
than at the present day. 

It will bo seen that the author has not thought it advisable to arrange 
and classify these different styles of poetic composition under the 
several heads to which they may technically belong, but has largely 
distributed them throughout the volume, as likely to afford the conse- 
cutive reader a more agreeable variety than he might expect to enjoy 
by a methodical aggroupment of each different species of poetry. Tliey 
are thus presented, then, with the sincere wish and ardent hope, that 
amid the diversity of themes which they embrace, they may, at least 
in some slight degree, contribute to please, cheer, and elevate some 
minds, and excite pure and sublime emotions in some hearts. 

In conclusion: as the writer has, from boyhood, ever honored and 
esteemed the sex of his mother, he may be allowed to add, that he has 
sought to throw a sanctity and loveliness around the character of 
woman— to spring within her new aspirations for a still nobler position 
in society upon earth, and to charm her with the claims and awards 
of heaven. 

Such as the contents of this volume are, however, they are humbly 
consecrated to the cause of God and humanity. 



lilftiMfltii^ 



The autlior of tWs volume of poems waa born in Statesvillo, Nortli 
Carolina, February 6tli, 1801. From early manhood to this day, he has 
been among the busiest and best workers of his time. He became a 
student of necessity ; for from early boyhood he " hungered and thirst- 
ed " after truth. Thorough elemental training laid a good foundation 
for the noble superstructure of varied and useful learning which even 
now, while " the almond tree flourishes," employs his energies ; for such 
a man, though realizing that he can never finish in this world the 
work God gives him to do, must keep over in his heart that word of 
the Master : " Occupy till I come." 

lu medicine, science, literature, and theology, our honored friend 
has been, without intermission of zeal, an enthusiastic, painstaking 
student. As physician, scientist, writer, and preacher, he holds an 
honorable place among his contemporaries. For nearly half a centu- 
ry he has been identified with the great interests of education. Thou- 
sands throughout the South still live to bless him for the lessons learn- 
ed in his class and lecture I'ooms. 

The vauntings of atheistic science bring no alarms to his stead- 
fast heart. He has learued, for himself, that " God in nature and God 
in revelation are one." He hails with delight all real discoveries in 
science, and claims them as trophies for his King and Saviour. He 
believes, with great-hearted Milton, that " Truth, in some age or other, 
will find her witness, and shall be justified at last by her own chil- 
dren." 

Intimate knowledge of our author naturally reminds one of Lord 
Bacon's wise saying : '• It is true that a little philosophy inclincth 
man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's miuds 
about to religion: for while the mind of man looketh upon second 
causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go no farther; 
but when it beholdeth the chain of them, confederate and linked to- 
gether, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity." 

A man who studies God and nature with a heart so susceptible 
and a spirit so reverent, must sometimes find himself " soaring in the 



viii INTRODUCTION. 

liigli regions of his fancy, -with liis garland and singing robes about 
liim," In tli6 world around liim and in the heavens above him he 
must see what others do not see, and hear what others do not hear, 
being among those favored ones 

" "Who carry music in their heart 
Througli dusky lane and wrangling mart; 
Plying their daily task with busier feet, 
Because their secret souls a holier strain repeat." 

Very truly do the wise Germans say : " In this world the eye sees 
what it brings capacity for seeing." A thousand times, as these 
poems are witness, our friend has felt in his heart of hearts all that 
Coleridge sings in his " Morning Hymn in the Vale of Chamouni :" 

" Awake, my soul ! Not only passive praise 
Thou owest ! Not alone these swelling tears. 
Mute thanks and secret ecstasy ! Awake, 
Voice of sweet song ! Awake, my heart, awake ! 
Green vales and icy cliffs, join in my hymn ! " 

In this dainty little volume are many songs of the affections. Our 
author has modestly named them "A Cluster of Poems for the Homo 
and the Heart." And they are well named, since he is one of the 
happy men who can sing with Croly of " Domestic Love :" 

" Oh love of loves ! to thy white hand is given 

Of earthly happiness the golden key ; 
Thine are thojoyous hours of winter's even, 

When the babes cling around their father's knee, 
And thine the voice that on the midnight sea. 

Meets the rude mariner with thoughts of home. 
Peopling the gloom with all he longs to see." 

This volume has been demanded of its author by a host of friends, 
and most earnestly by his old students. There are thousands, in his 
own section, many in the Northern and Western States of our gr^at 
Union, and some across the water, who will be glad to see and to en- 
joy this " Cluster of Poems for the Home and the Heart." And they 
may welcome it without fear; for there is not one poisonous flower in 
the cluster. There is not a line in this book that will bring a shadow 
to any home, a blush to any cheek, a snare to any heart. 

ATTICUS G. HAYGOOD. 
Emory College, 
OXI'ORD, Ga., Dec. 25, 1877. 



CONTENTS. 



Paob 
"AU ShaU he WeU," ...... 65 

An Epithalamium, ... . . 210 

An Infant's Flight to Heaven, , . . ,167 
Apostroplie to an Album, . , , . .145 

Apostrophe to the Stone Mountain, An, . . .26 

Appendix, ...... 214 

Atlanta Crushed and Crowned, . . . .50 

Balloon's Ascension, The, .... 81 

Beauty Enhanced by Piety, . . . . .108 

Camp-raeeting Hymn, ..... 200 

Camp-meeting Song, . . . . . .208 

Capers, Little Charles Meminger, Elegy on, . . 102 

Chamouni, Vale of, . . . • . .11 

Christian Sabbath, The, ..... 36 

Conviction and Conversion Contrasted, . . .128 

Cupboard, The Little Pine, &c., .... 151 

Deluge, The Noachian, . . . . .83 

Emory and Oxford Apostrophized, ... 144 

Farewell and the Greeting, The, . . . .157 

Farewell Souvenir, A, . . • . .133 

Friendship's Memorial, . . • . .174 

Frown of God, The, ..... 48 

Girlhood Expanded to Womanhood, . . . .182 

Glacier in the Heart, A, . . . . .149 

Gloom and Glory, . . . . . .128 

Golden Girdle, The, ..... 177 

Golden Wedding, The, . . . . .210 

Grandeur of Nature and the Glory of Grace, Contrasted, . 112 

Itinerant Minister's Wife, To an, . . . .166 

Ladies' Welcome, The, ..... 119 

" Little Ones, My Little Ones," . . . .193 

"Live for the Skies," ..... 200 

Madrigal, A, . . . . . .181 

Masonic Ode, A, . . . . . . 78 

Means, Miss Sallie L., Sketch of the late, . ^^_», . 135 

Messiah's Coming Ecign, . . . . ' ^ . 188 



CONTENTS. 



Millennium, A Vision of tlie, . 

Minister's Farewell, The, . 

Morning in May, A, . . 

Mount of Holiness, The, . 

New Year's Reflections— 1866— A, 

Ode to the Opening of the New Year, 1800, 

Parental AflFection, 

Phases of Woman, The, 

Pino Cupboard, The Little, &c., 

Pledge of AflFection, A, . 

Poetic Oft'ering, A, . 

Poetic Paraphrase of the Forty-eighth Psalm, 

Purity Rewarded, 

Rainbow Dream, The, 

Reminiscence (for his Wife) A, 

Sabbath, The Christian, 

Sacred Localities in Palestine, 

Samford, T. P., A Tribute to the memory of. 

Silent Power of Woman, The, 

Song-bird Uncaged, The, . 

Souvenir, A Farewell, 

Souvenir of Love, A, . . . 

Sparkling Beauty Transient, 

"Sunday-school, Our Sunday-school," 

Supplement to " The War," 

The Sear Leaf, .... 

The Sound of the Gospel is Passing Away, 

The Train, .... 

The War, and one of its Noble Victims, 

To the Author's Eldest Daughter, 

Tribute of Gratitude, A, . . ■ 

Tribute to the Heroic Dead, 

Triumphant Wife and Mother, A, 

Triumph of a Lofty Faith in Woman, The, 

Triumph of Joseph, 

Vision of the Millennium, A, 

Vale of Chamouni, in the Swiss Alps, 

Wedding Ring, The, 

Woman in Paradise, and Woman in Christendom, 

Woman, Silent Power of. 

Woman, Triumph of a Lofty Faith in, 

World Without, and the World Within, The, 

Young Student's Cloudless Close of Life, The, 

Young Womanhood Ripe for Heaven, 



Faok 

16 

191 

169 

78 

110 

31 

206 

29 

151 

180 

140 

184 

77 

23 

80 

86 

95 

58 

147 

100 

133 

117 

205 

197 

69 

171 

202 

72 

58 

206 

114 

108 

163 

130 

77 

16 

11 

207 

122 

147 

130 

105 

186 

135 



A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



IN THE SWISS ALPS. 



WRITTEN AFTER WITNESSING THE SUBLIME SCENES OP THAT 
MOUNTAIN REGION. 



Sweet Yale of Chamouni I the ** Pride of the Moun- 
tains," 
Thou bloomest in beauty, high up in the skies ; 
Where the roar of bright cascades from wild, gushing 
fountains, 
A torrent of music forever supplies. 

The Aiguille de Rouges rise in grandeur around thee, 
Encinctur'd with jasper and crested with snow ; 

To loom o'er the nestling retreat where I found thee, 
And cast their deep shadow o'er gorges below. 



12 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

High, high to the eastward, to shut out the morning, 
The bold Montauvert rears its turreted steeps j 

The ice-wreaths of winter their summits adorning, 
Far aloft from the crags whence the avalanche 
leaps. 

Upheav'd from thy plain, and defying the ages — 

His time-honor'd diadem bare to the sky 5 
His body-guards round him, where bleak winter 
rages — 
The " Monarch of Mountains," Mont Blanc, meets 
the eye. 

Great Castle of Kature ! Thy pinnacles tower 
Columnar and grand, and transpiercing the clouds, 

Where Jupiter Tonaus ne'er hazards his power, 
But stoops to the zone which his storm-cloud en- 
shrouds. 

Hark ! hark ! how it thunders ! — the mountains are 
quaking ! 
The tread of an avalanche sounds on the gale ! 
Vast bowlders are bounding! the forest is break- 
ing! 
Whole hamlets and herds are entombed in the vale ! 



THE VALE OF CHAMOUNL 13 

Great God ! wlien the Alpine artilPry's unlimber'd, 
Aud cloud-mounted caissons supply the death- 
balls ; 
When the cannonade rolls over ice-fields, un timbered, 
Woe ! woe to the homes where the thunder-shock 
faUs! 

Yonder — stretching in gelid and motionless splendor, 
Through a half hundred miles — hes the cold Mer 
de Glace ; 

For deep mountain gorges their basins surrender, 
To cradle for ages the huge frozen mass. 

With margins of azure, its yawning crevasses 
Pierce down fifty fathoms — chill, gloomy, and 
dread, 

As if cleft by the lightnings, to open the passes 
To Pluto's dark caves, and their shadowy dead. 

Fronting far to the west, and in splendent illusion, 
The Glacier du Bois lifts its arch of sea-green j 

Whence the Arviron leaps from its icy seclusion,* 
Uncavern'd and free, to give life to the scene. 



* A subterraneous stream wliicli gushes out from the western base 
of the glacier. 



14 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

The Arve, rusliing by, claims tlie fugitive stranger, 
And bursts every barrier, to blend with the Ehone j 

While dark frowning cliffs overhang it with danger, 
Nor heed its wild wail through its channels of 
stone. 

Lash'd on by the Furies that rul'd at its fountains, 
In headlong persistence — defiant of foes — 

It clears rocky ledges, tears open the mountains. 
And roars with the tempest, the wilder it blows. 

But the Ehone is in sight I and these ostracised 
daughters — 

A blonde and brunette, in discordant embrace* — 
Soon close their career in Geneva's blue waters, 

Their rest to secure, and their stains to efface.! 

Here, plung'd and absterg'd by their azure lavation, 
In beauty and loveliness now they agree ; 

And silently seeking a new destination. 
Their sweet limpid waters glide on to the sea. 

Bright type of the soul as it enters probation I 
Polluted and restless through life to be driven, 

• Appendix A. t Appendix B. 



THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI. 15 

Until, wasli'd in the laver of regeneration, 
Its purified essence flows smoothly to heav'n. 

I knew, fair Chamouni ! that rock-ramparts bound 
thee. 
And Titans, ice-thron'd, have conspired to destroy ; 
But Phoebus shall smite them— green glories sur- 
round thee — 
And spring-time and summer then crown thee 
with joy. 

Farewell, cloistered Eden ! I leave thee forever ! 
No more through thy gorges and glaciers to 
roam; 
But in far distant lands I'll forget, never, never, 
The grandeur and peace of thy sweet mountain 
home. 



16 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



A PRIZE POEM.* 

Away ! away ! my restless, reaching miud ! 
Obey the impulse, beating high within — 
The truthful index of immortal life. 
Away from books and banks and civil strife, 
And all the horde of mercenary cares, 
Long, long taskmasters o'er thy humbled powers. 

Jj^t nobler themes, reveal'd to mortal ken, 
Arouse thy slumb'ring energies t' ascend 
The empyrean arch which grandly spans 
Ethereal regions, flush'd with glowing life ;— 
And foll'wing far the onward lines of light 
That richly streak the cloudless moral heavens 
And make their focus on a distant age, 
O'erleap the lapse of intervening years. 
And settle down beneath the hemisphere 



•A premium granted. 



A VISION OF THE MILLENNIUM. 17 

Of uncreated liglit that pales the stars, 
And canopies the globe with dazzling sheen — 
Surpassing far you zone of ample sweep 
That belts the evening sky of Saturn's orb. 

Transcendent light of God's millennial day ! 
The hallo w'd radiance of supernal bliss ! 
The end of i)rox)hecy ! The reign of Heav'n ! 

To this, in bygone years, the holy seers 
With gifted vision look'd ; and patriarchs, 
And saiuts of later age, all bent their eyes 
Upon the looming future, full of hoi)e. 
The gathering light of eighteen hundred years 
Has half reveal'd the soul-absorbing scene, 
And sprung the faith of Zion's sons afresh. 

Earth, air and sea, their noblest tribute pay, 
To speed creation to its goal of bliss. 
Immortal mind is levied on from high, 
And plumes her wing for bold empyreal flight. 
E'en Mammon smiles, and taps his golden stores, 
To cheer the heathen with the '' Book of Life 5" 
While Science, thron'd amid the starry hosts. 

And wielding far the scepter of her reign 

2** 



18 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

O'er boundless realms — lier own — sublimely bows, 
And wreaths lier wealth of honors round the Cross. 

The Arts — her servants all — submissive yield 
Their gen'rous tribute to the glorious work ; 
And rivaling in speed the panting winds, 
Her wondrous messengers, on burning wheel 
Swift scour the bosom of the boiling seas, 
And bear on board the commerce of the world ; 
]S"ay, rarer still, the pabulum of life, 
In Bible stores, to feed its famish'd tribes. 
Then, rushing on o'er continental i)lains, 
They bound in smoke and thunder through the hills, 
And tunnel'd mountains echo to their tread, 
As, drai^d in night, and yelling to the winds, 
They pierce th' embowel'd rock, and, belching fire, 
Insult his throne, and challenge Pluto's reign ! 
The Stygian gloom surpass'd, th' emergent train 
Swings high in air, and rings along the cliffs 5 
Transilient, clears a hundred yawning chasms, 
And, tireless, leaps the intervening floods, 
To hail with eagle scream the farthest goal. 

Not still enough to crown this matchless age, 
And conquer Nature for the reign of Grace— 



A VISION OF THE MILLENNIUM. 19 

The very seas unbar their coral caves, 

To let the world look in ! And far below 

The emVald beds where fabled mermaids sleep, 

The wir'y cable springs its graceful curves, 

And widely spans suboceanic steeps ; 

While thought, electric, shoots the deeps profound, 

To gladden nations on the distant shore, 

And bind, in brothers' bonds, antipodes. 

All, all portend, th' august, approaching day. 
Faith, stirr'd by thick'ning signs that mark the time, 
Uplifts her kindling eye, and hurries on 
To hail the dawn of great Messiah's reign. 

The world's foregone ! Its noisy din is hush'd ; 
Earth's sickly hopes and vapid joys forgot. 
The orient heav'ns, aglow with liquid gold, 
Outspread their sx)lendors on creation's hosts. 

The wid'ning day unfolds — the Shiloh comes ! 
The streamers from His rising throne flash far, 
And flush the skies with greater glories near. 

Hail ! Prince of Peace ! Great David's Son and 
Lord I 



20 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Eternal Power, all hail ! Forever hail ! 
The raDSom'd nations shout, " Thy kingdom come !'^ 
***** 
Oh, what a scene ! A God on earth again I 
And crowding millions of apostate men, 
Each full of heaven, and welcomed to Ilis smiles I 
Symphonious hallelujahs echoing far, 
And rolling on the winds, to list'ning zones, 
The boundless raptures of a world redeem'd ! 

All, all is peace. Perennial glory shines 
O'er the broad bosom of the moral deep. 
Norufiian tempests lash the sea of life, 
To wreck their victims on a hopeless coast j 
Calm sleep the waves — the howling winds are hushed, 
For more than Neptune rules the noiseless main. 
Thrice hallow'd era to the tribes of earth ! 
The great Deceiver struggles iu his chains, 
The prisou'd victim of Messiah's pow'r. 
Infernal malice heaves its burning breast, 
But dare not sluice its venom on the world. 
Sin, scath'd and sear'd, has withered to its death, 
And plants of holy growth o'erspread the land. 
No clarion rings t' inflame the martiaFd host. 
Or drown the clangor of their flashing steel ; 



A VISION OF THE MILLENNIUM. 5il 



No tliund'ring ordnance shakes th' ensanguined plain, 
Nor butclier'd thousands bleach on foreign soil. 
No deadly blade is launch'd by villain's hand j 
No reckless mobs exult in seething flames. 
The black, confounded brotherhood of crime 
Abhor the light, and covert seek in hell. 
One broad, one boundless, one intensive day 
Illumes the moral world, and gilds the grave ! 
Earth breathes the air of heaven. Celestial sounds 
Eing through her thousand palaces, and swell 
In rapturous strains from cottages of clay ! 

One step— one brief, one rapid, noiseless step, 
Soft as an angel's tread on Hermon's dew — 
And all is heaven ; unmask'd, unclouded heavm ! 
A God unyeil'd ! Supernal bliss begun. 
Stupendous thought ! The ravish'd soul's o'erwhelm'd ! 
Its seat a throne 5 immensity its range ! 

****** 
But stay ! These vasty contemplations sweep 
My spirit from its moorings. Where am I ? 
High heaven's the focus of the Godhead's light, 
Where none but eyes immortal gaze unscath'd. 

****** 
Poor earth-born child, retreat ! Thou tread'st too far ; 
Thy sense o'erpower'd recoils, and shrinks abash'd. 



22 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Await the openiug future fast in faith^ 
And, clad iu peerless mail of lieav'nly mold, 
Still breast the wingless bolts that wandering fly 
From spent assailants, tott'ring to their fall. 

A mother's voice inspires, and sainted forms 
That arin'dthy boyhood with the shield ofpray'r, 
Seem bending from their thrones of living light, 
And wave the victor's palm, to woo thee on. 

The conflict nears its close — the heights are scal'd — 
The fiercest batt'ries, silenc'd, boom no more. 
Th' infernal foe, with shattered shield and blade. 
Vindictive, fears and flies supernal pow'r. 
And leaves his strongholds to the " sons of God." 

The skies are blushing as the morning rose ; 
And Vict'ry, bending from her azure throne. 
Entwines her garlands for Thy conq'ring brow. 
Thy rapturous gaze, from inspiration's peaks. 
Caught but the adumbration, shooting far. 
Of world-wide splendors in a coming age. 
That age is hast'ning on. God speed its pace, 
Till, stooping from their heights, the burthen'd skies 
Are rent with overcharge of endless bliss, 
A7id cloudless glory merges earth in heaven I 



THE RAINBOW DREAM. 23 



fit H^lnStit Hwtut 

A PREMIUM POEM.* 

It was niglit on the plain, and the vilhige was still ; 

J^ot a wing was afloat on the air. 
Ev'ry wheel was at rest in the neighboring mill, 

And the invalid doz\l in his chair. 

I had i)ray'd for the lov'd ones in camps far away, 

And had sunk in the arms of repose, 
Overpower'd by the cares and the toils of the day, 

When a bright dreamy vision arose. 

It was twilight, it seemed, as I gaz'd from my room. 
And beheld, in the dark southern sky, 

A RAINBOW in beauty and majestj^ loom 
O'er the billowy cloud-drifts on high. 

As I stepped from the door, and with rapid eye-glance 
Swept the broad panorama around. 



Written during tlie war, and trutlifulin its details. 



24 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

How sublime was the pomp through the blazing ex- 
panse ! 
While the atmosphere breathed not a sound. 

For in prismatic glory the heavens all smiPd, 

And shone on the landscape below j 
From horizon to zenith the arches were pil'd — 

East, west, north and south were aglow ! 

Fleecy masses of vapor, disrupted and pale, 

As if taking their leave of the sky, 
Floated gloomily by over mountain and vale — 

Yet they robbed not a bow of its dye. 

Far aloft in the east was the " All-seeing Eye,'' 
And, resplendent with streamers of light. 

It was burning like Constantine's Cross in the sky, 
While the world stood in awe at the sight. 

Great God I with what grandeur creation then 
shone. 

In her purple, and crimson, and gold ! 
Was the curtain uplifted that circles the Throne, 

And a scroll from the Godhead unroll'd? 



THE RAINBOW DREAM. 25 



Were the thousand bright arches that spanned the 
blue dome, 
The symbohc foretokens of peace % 
Shall the tempest that beats o'er my once hapiDy 
home, 
And the thunder of battle, soon cease % 



Shall the red clouds of war, rent and torn by the 
blast 

That Mercy shall speed from on high, 
Be swept from our sky, and the smisliiue at last 

Kindle joy through the land, far and nigh % 

Does the eye of Omniscience auspiciously beam 

On the land of the orange and pine. 
To encourage our faith with the glories that gleam 

From a providence truly divine % 



Then thanks for the vision, so rich and so rare, 

So abounding with hope and with God ! 
We shall outlive the tempest, and breathe a free air, 

Where ensanguined battalions have trod ! 

2 



26 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



%M %^n^itm%t ft f ft Mmt MtwiMii** 

SITUATED IN DE KALB COUNTY, GEOBGIA. 

Great grauite monster, whence thy birth ? 

What age ui)heav'd thy giant form ? 
Why has the rent and laboring earth 

Disgorged thee bare to sun and storm ? 

Why chng'st thou to her breast, disownM — 
A naked outcast, scath'd and peel'd — 

While smiUng i)lains her lap has nurs'd, 
Are crowned with wealth of wood and field ? 

A foundling flung, without a name, 
'Mid winds and skies to stand alone 5 

What paps have nurs'd thy Titan frame ? 
What gorgon glance transformed to stone ? 

Thy natal hour no memories reach — 
Far lost in a primeval age, 



* See Appendix O. 



THE STONE MOUNTAIN. 27 

When fire and flood, in fearful breach 
Of pristme order, shot theu* rage. 

Upheav'd to heaven, in hoary pride, 
O'er toppling thrones thou tow^rest now. 

Wild hurricanes have lash'd thy side ; 
Insulting thunders storm'd thy brow. 

Yet there thou gloomest, stern and stroug — 
The wrecks of tempests at thy feet j 

The storm-god's thrilling battle-gong 
Silenc'd, as all his hosts retreat. 

Bald, bleak and bleach'd, thou Ung'rest on, 

Survivor of a world entomb'd j 
And, rob'd in light, thy rocky throne 

Shall brave the skies till earth is doom'd. 

Great monumental pile, live on ! 

For suns shall gild thy royal head 
When Egypt's pyramids are gone. 

With all their underlying dead. 

Down deep below thy cloudless face 
The storm of internecine war 



28 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

May roll its columns round thy base, 
Led on by their portentous star. 

Unsheeted heroes long shaU sleep 
In countless thousands at thy feet, 

And widows wail, and orphans weep, 
No more their mold'ring dead to greet.* 

But though a people gor'd and torn, 
Bewail in blood their martyrs gone — 

No grief for millions thus that mourn, 
Shall ever stir thy heart of stone. 

In scathless strength and stoic gloom. 
Thou still shalt mock the wastes of years, 

Till herald thunders wake the tomb, 
And God in judgment pomp appears. 



* During tlielate destructive war between tbo Nortlieru 
and Southern States, a battle was fouglit near tlie base of 
tills mountain. 



THE PHASES OF WOMAN. 29 



J%t W%mt^ ^l Wtm^. 



I SAW her a bright and a lovely thing, 
As she press'cl tlie hps that taught her j 

Like a rosebud nurs'd in the lap of spring 
She bloom'd — and I call'd her " daughter." 

Again I gaz^d as she j)assVl along, 
And a brother smiPd and kissVI her ; 

With her ringing laugh and her witching song, 
^Twas a joy to call her " sister.'^ 

I saw her again in her queenly pride, 

As a raptur'd lover claim'd her ; 
She stood at the altar, his brilliant bride. 

And his charming '-'- wife" he nam'd her. 

I saw her a matron, in riper years, 
When she clasp'd to her heart another 5 

It lay and gaz'd on her grateful tears ; 
Then smil'd, and call'd her " mother." 



30 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

I saw her last, as she pass'd away, 
With her household bending round her ; 

A convoy came from the realms of day, 
And an " angel " form they found her. 

Oh, let me repose upon woman's breast ! 

Let her lap in childhood hold me ! 
And in ripe old age, when I sink to rest. 

May her guardian arms enfold me 1 



TO THE YEAR 1860. 31 



%% tit f# %%t %tm\m ^t \%t 

ftMi I860 ; 

THE EVE OF OUR CALAMITOUS WAR. 

How placidly slimes the moruing star, 
As she starts on her new career 5 

And heralds the pomp of Aurora's car, 
Through the gates of the opening year ! 

In advance of the rosy blush of day, 
She moves as a virgin queen 5 

And ascends the skies but to sink away 
In the depths of their blue serene. 

The orient heavens are pav^d with gold, 
For the tread of Apollo's wheel ; 

And its dazzling beams, as the gates unfold, 
An awaking world reveal. 



The homes of the happy with shouts resound, 
As they welcome the new-born cheer j 



32 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Wliile Eighteen Hundred and Sixtifs crowned, 
Aud haiFd as the reiguiug year. 

The morning has spread her silver sheen 
On the mountain's glowing brow, 

And millions that greet the resplendent scene 
Now start to the loom and plow. 

How merrily rings the peasant's song 

O'er liis sunlit hills and plains ; 
While maids and mothers the notes prolong, 

Until childhood swells the strains. 

But the laugh and the sport of the " Christ- 
mas-tree," 

And the " Ohristmas-gift " and gun, 
With the negro's smirk, and his banjo glee. 

Have fled from the rising sun ; 

While a thousand wheels that have palsied hung 

Till the holiday sports were o'er, 
Are now in their bands and braces swung, 

And thunder and smoke once more. 

Then away, away as their echoes roll 
Over mountain and lake and field, 



TO THE YEAR 1860. 33 

Lo ! the nations are rousing from Line to Pole, 
For the shock of the spear and shield. 

There's a struggle ahead, 'twixt counter pow'rs, 
And the throues of the kingdoms shake \ 

The heavens are gathering avenging show'rs, 
And the hearts of the guilty quake.* 

Oh, ye godly seers of the filmy past ! 

Ere the midsummer sign shall rise, 
Shall my country stoop to the stormy blast, 

Or withstand the inclement skies % 

Great Power above ! lock the demon's wheel 

That rushes with blade and brand 
To gloat o'er the carnage of crimson'd steel, 

And the smoke of a burning land ! 

A fratricide's doom is in red reserve, 
And Vengeance has nurs'd the blaze, 

To scathe and to sear the vandal nerve 
That essays the torch to raise. 

Oh, bind our temple with bolts of steel. 
And seam it with molten gold ! 



* There were at tliia time rumors of war in Europe. 

2* 



34 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

From its flaming walls let the traitor reel, 
Under Julian's curse of old ! 

But surely a cordon of angels stand 

To encircle its lofty dome 5 
And a legion more, by divine command, 

Shall encamp round Freedom's home. 

Then bury the past in eternal night, 
With its tales, and tears, and blood j 

Let us rise on the wings of the morning's light, 
To meet and commune with God. 

Though creation's clock no sound has rung, 
And its beat has alarm'd no ears ; 

Yet are countless cycles of ages flung 
From the sweep of its rolling spheres. 

We are onward bound, with a brisker breeze 

And a bolder piston stroke 5 
Already we rock on the heaving seas, 

And the favoring skies invoke. 

There are signs in the heavens, and signs on 
earth, 
That presage the millennial reign j 



TO THE YEAR 18G0. 35 

And millions of prayers, of priceless worth, 
Are ascending from land and main. 

The Lion of Judah has opened the seal, 
And the last seventh trumi)et soimds ; 

Like AliDine thunder, the echoing peal 
From the temple of God resounds. 

O God of the cross to the guilty giv'n ! 

In thy cloudless reign appear j 
Make the earth an elysium fill'd with heaven, 

Ere the close of this circling year ! 



36 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



LIKE pope's BRITISH ROSE, "THE TYPE OF SWEET RULE AND 
GENTLE MAJESTY." 

ANALYSIS. — 1. Its antiqttity and continuance a proof of its divine origin. 2. Dawn of 
day. J. Sunrise. 4. Its universal quiet, and noiseless reign. J. The morning Sun- 
day-school. 6. Approaching noon. 7. Gathering to the house of -worship. 8. Church 
service commenced, g Tht piclpit appeal of the hour. 10. Its solemn and affecting 
close. II. A more extended survey. 12. The Sabbath on a heathen shore. 7j. The 
Missionary's triumph. 14. The hallowing anticipation of the ETERNAL SABBATK. 

Hail, peaceful Sabbath ! Type of endless rest ! 
Thou voiceless oracle of priceless truth ! 
The nation's guarantee that Israel's God — 
Who in the depth of by-gone years, from high, 
Baptized tby virgin hours, and claim'd them His— 
Still lives in Zion, stretching far His reign, 
And pouring proof on prophecy, where'er 
Thy hallow'd sunshine greets the Christian world ! 

Thrice welcome, happy day ! my spirit hails 
With joyous bound thy monumental hours. 
They come, fresh with the story of the Cross, 
And laden with salvation's Tichest fruits. 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH, 37 

Eiped on Calv'ry's toi> iu noonday night, 
And grown iu luscious plenty from the soil 
Steep'd in the gore of God's vicarious Son. 

Sweet day of rest ! How still creation round ! 
Hush'd in divine repose ; still more like heaven, 
When starry sentinels with beamless lamps, 
Retiring fast, throw wide the gates of day, 
And o'er the waking millions, looming high, 
Aurora's purple robe adorns the east — 
Emblazon'd symbol of approaching pomp. 
But soon, the portals i^ast, in crimson glow 
Apollo's blazing chariot mounts the sky. 
And, slowly rolling up the steep of heaven, 
In cloudless glory flings its golden light 
In wide profusion over flood and field — 
Now sporting on the slumb'ring infant's cheek, 
And kissing into second life the lids 
Late softly lock'd in soothing sleep's embrace 5 
And now, its dazzling luster flashing far 
O'er dimpling stream and azure-tinted lake. 
Wakes up the sleepers from their wat'ry beds. 
And, bounding into light, the finny tribes 
Leap high in air f express their Maker's praise 5 
While woods, responsive to the glad'niug sounds, 



38 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Send back the echoes of a thousand strains 
From joyous warblers in their leafy bow'rs, 
Their matin melodies of grateful song. 

But now creation's hymns have ceas'd, and wide 
The blissful Sabbath spreads its balmy peace ; 
Intelligence is thron'd to honor God, 
And hush the clamors of a guilty world. 
****** 

Behold how wide the noiseless quiet reigns ! 
The plow mid-furrow stands, as loath to move, 
And mar the solemn grandeur of the scene. 
The faithful ox, half dozing 'mid the shade, 
Revolves his cud, or freely roams the plain. 
The noble horse, relieved from rein and draught, 
His forage grinds, and, patient in his stall, 
Atones in dreamy mood his weekly toils. 
The grating saw, reverberating axe 
And rustling plane, their deafening stridor hush, 
And noisy Commerce shuts her thousand doors. 
The busy factory's thund'rous hum has ceas'd — 
Its glowing wheels have paus'd to take their rest? 
Its prison'd sons to breathe the air of heaven. 
E'en greed of gold — whose avaricious clutch 
For six days past has beggar'd helpless babes, 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 39 

Extorted tears from liomeless widows' eyes, 
And fiird its coffers with ungodly gain, 
In headlong haste to rival Mammon's fame — 
Must halt for once, and cloak his canc'rous lust, 
Or meet the blasting glance of pubUc scorn. 



All, all is calm. A bless'd armistice reigns- 
And angel voices seem to whisper peace. 



All over Christendom's extended plains 
Bright smiling groups of joyous youth appear, 
Treading, with book in hand and agile step. 
The honor'd pathway to the house of God. 
Anon, a gentle hum pervades the aisles, 
And softly floats along the ambient air, 
As lisping tongues rehearse the storied scenes 
Of oriental archives, penn'd by Heaven, 
To guide th' expectant nations to the Cross. 
Their ringing sounds, like chimes of silver bells — 
Subdued by graver notes of riper age — 
Roll through the groin'd and fretted vaults, to win 
Symphonious voices from the echoing walls. 
Seraphic sounds ! 'Tis Zion's infant hosts 
Before their King, in reverential mood. 
In holy training for the wars of Heaven. 



40 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

That modest, meek-eyed youth, of sylph-Uke form, 
Unconscious of his worth, is gathering strength — 
Immortal strength, of more than earthly mold — 
To join the sacramental host elect. 
And wield, in future times, an earthquake's pow'r 
Against the lofty battlements of sin. 

Yon cherub sister — ^lovely, young and fair ; 
Whose clust'ring locks her polish'd temples shade, 
But leave in open view an angel smile, 
T' expand the roses on her crimson cheek ; 
Her guileless bosom full of saintly zeal. 
Her parting lips to soft inquiry fram'd ; 
Whose sparkling eyes with anxious gaze surveys 
Each line that marks her teacher's speaking face. 
While, bright with joy, she quaffs the heav'nly 

draught 
That flows in luscious stream from lips she loves, 
Surpassing far the nectar of the gods — 
In years to come, with matron j^ride, shall nurse 
Some infant Washington, whose lofty soul 
In conscious majesty shall one day rise 
To wrench the scepter from a tyraut/s grasp, 
And win the homage of a nation's heart ; 
Or train around the lov'd maternal knee 



THE CHRISTIAN- SABBA TH 41 

Some gifted Wesley, born to deathless fame, 
Aud '''- pregnant with celestial fire/' design'd 
To re-illume the darksome temple-courts, 
And kindle offerings at ten thousand shrines. 

Another, and another, bath'd in living light 
At these pure founts, in coming years shall sweep 
In ample orbit through the moral heavens, 
And blend their radiance in the glowing skies. 
****** 

But richer splendor crowns the reigning day, 
And clothes a hemisphere in rainbow dyes. 

Hark ! hark ! The sweetly solemn bell 
In measur'd tones now strikes the stilly air ; 
And chiming long and loud with sister sounds, 
Now woos the stirring thousands from theh^ homes, 
To crowd the temple-gates, and thinly on heaven, 
Where God's own altar burns, and purer light, 
Celestial, streams from Zion's holy hill. 

Transporting sight ! Whole floods of human forms, 
In cities-full, roll down the sounding streets. 
The country's throng'd with well-attir'd groups, 

Moving in silence to the house of prayer. 

2** 



42 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



Tlie solemn audience waits in mute susi)ense, 
Till, rising to his consecrated desk, 
The man of God appears. Th' Eternal Word 
Inspires his glowing heart, and pours its truth 
In healing volumes from his chasten'd lips ; 
Then bow'd in suppliant mood, his soul on fire, 
He wings the faith of hundreds for the throne 
Where boundless Mercy waits to lavish peace. 
In earnest, calm appeal, his work begins. 

His field embraces oriental climes, 
Where human Hope was shorn of all her wealth, 
And outraged Virtue sought her native skies. 
His theme is high as heav'n and deep as hell ; 
But, ranging through its vast domains, he dwells 
On '^ man's first disobedience and the fruit 
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the world, with all our woe." 
In burning words he paints the wrath pluck'd down, 
To blast the Eden where the deed was done, 
And brand with infamy the human race j 
Then turns to Calvary with palms outspread, 
And, fuU of faith and of the Holy Ghost, 
Invokes th^ incarnate God, once bathed in blood, 
Whose agonies upheaved the startled globe 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 43 

Till rocks were rent and graves disgorg'd tbeii- dead ; 
While weeping Nature, bending o'er His cross, 
Her laws forgot, and shudder'd to the stars j 
And sympathizing Mercy deigned to drape 
The sunless heavens with the pall of death. 

Then, rapt in bliss, th' exulting preacher cries : 
" The plea is heard ! The Couq'ror claims His 

crown. 
And Death and Hell lie crushed beneath His feet ! 
Creation smiles, and angel guards descend j 
A cloudy throne receives the rising Lord j 
Unnumber'd seraphs crowd the gates of heaven. 
To greet their conq'ring Eang with choral strains. 
And Truth and Mercy kiss in long embrace." 

The spell-bound audience feel th' unearthly theme. 
And deep emotion starts the rising tear. 
The reckless renegade no longer taunts, 
Nor dares to spurn the Saviour from his soul. 
Old age and youth in blending pathos melt, 
And saints, enraptured, hail their coming heaven. 

Oh hallow'd day ! The sooth'd and soften'd crowd 
In pensive rev'rence seek their several homes, 



44 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

To stay themselves ou God, and nobly foil 
The fierce temptations of the opening week. 

But still enlarge the scene. Far, far away, 
Amid the blue Pacific's watery wastes. 
Within the fiery Tropic's dazzling zone, 
Owhyhee lifts above th' unfathom'd floods 
His Alpine brow, to brave the heats of heaven 
And vaunt his sparkling diadem of snow. 
Where Mauna Eoa's yaAvning crater spouts. 
With thund'rhig sounds, its cataracts of fire. 
'Mid these inhospitable skies he bares 
His rocky breast to break the ocean wave 
Where kindred islands slumber on the deep, 
And templed barbarism, steep'd in blood. 
Late held its orgies on the smoking soil. 

But Truth Eternal, borne upon the winds, 
On high commission to the pagan world. 
Its beacon-lights lias shed through fog and gloom. 
To rouse the torpid sleepers from their dreams. 
And turn their guilty thousands to the Cross. 

What wondrous prodigy is here ! A birth — 
A nation's moral birth — in one short day ! 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBA TH. 45 



Idolatry abjured, and sinless blood 
From infants' veins no more to curse the land. 
Oh blissful change ! The sacred Sabbath now 
With halcyon beams illumes the sea-bound group. 

No steeple-bell disturbs the native wilds. 
The forest sleeps, and lounging herds traverse 
The sunlit plains, while Industry's at rest. 
The bark canoe no longer skims the waves, 
But, tether'd to the shore, with easy swing 
It rocks responsive to the rippling tide. 
The meshy net no finny game entoils, 
But hangs on neighb'ring rocks, to drip and dry. 
Nay, dreamy silence woos the beasts to roam 
Without the dread of spear or whizziug shaft. 
The timid kangaroo, from shady copse. 
With nursling brood embowel'd in her folds, 
Leaps free and far, to browse amid the cliffs. 
The parakeet and tufted cockatoo 
Their gaudy plumage llaunt in open air, 
And chatter to the viewless winds unharm'd, 
For now the tawny island hordes are still ; 
The palm-leaf chapel holds their manly forms, 
As, bow'd in solemn mood, with hands outspread, 
They join the fervent, soul-absorbing prayer 



46 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

The Missionary sends to list'ning Heaven- 
For savage nature— tam'd, and sooth'd, and sav'd— 
Glad hails the hour, and, rising at its close, 
Loud shouts redemption to the sounding seas. 

Heaven-consecrated day I The Godhead's boon ! 
The pledge hebdomadal of bliss to come ! 
O'er suppliant tribes and yielding kingdoms rule, 
Till Hottentot and Hindoo, Turk and Moor, 
And all the hosts of idol-serving knee, 
Shall hail thy gladsome hours, and weekly swell 
The world-wide anthem to the Christian's God ! 

Then let the seasons roll, and Sabbaths come, 
In pregustation of eternal rest ! 

Soon, soon th' Apocalyptic trump shall ring 
The herald thunders of the coming throne ; 
And buried millions leap from sod and sea. 
To swell the pageant, and to meet their God. 
The scene shall pass in quick but dread review. 
The earth in seething flames — its millions doom'd — 
And then the stormy elements shall sink, 
Like fretful babes, to silence and to peace. 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBA TH. 47 



Great God, how grand ! Tli' ecstatic vision's true ! 
Th' Eternal Sabbath sheds its morning light, 
Undimm'd by shadows and unspent by years ; 
While glory, streaming from Jehovah's eye. 
Floods heaven with boundless bhss, and wakes 
The hallelujahs of a WORLD redeem'd ! 



48 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



I HAVE seen the lightning's thong 
Fiercely lash the howling skies ; 

Heard the thunder's battle-gong 
Bid the giant tempest rise : 

I have seen the midnight air 
Redden with the meteor's blaze; 

Show'rs of sky -built rockets glare 
O'er a world's affrighted gaze : 

I have heard the quaking ground 
Bellow to the whirlwind's blast ; 

Trembled at the startling sound, 
As the wild tornado pass'd : 

I have felt creation rock 

To the earthquake's fearful tread ; 
While amid th' astounding shock 

Houseless thousands fear'd and fled 

I have groan'd with earthly woes — 
Battled with Misfortune's blast- — 



THE FROWN OF GOD. 49 

Gaz'd upon her dying throes, 
When a mother breath'd her last : 

Yet amid these scenes of dread, 
Faith may spread her cloudless skies ; 

Man survive when Nature's dead, 
And in richer glory rise. 

But one liorror^ deadlier far, 
Wraps the soul in Stygian gloom — 

Leaves the world without a star. 
Pours its curse beyond the tomb. 

Thunders, whirlwinds, earthquakes, raise 

Scarce a murmur on his ears. 
When its piercing, with'ring blaze. 

Stirs the godless sinner's fears. 

Let me meet the lightning's flash — 
Wear the thunder-scars of heav'n — 

Eeel amid the tempest's crash — 
Eide the floods, by cyclones driv'n : 

Nor the drunken globe stand still — 

Earthquakes cleaving ev'ry sod ; 
Only shield me from one ill ! — 

Save me from the Fkown of God ! 
3 



rl CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



A POEM 

^VDDEESSED TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF THE ATLANTA BIEDICAL 
COLLEGE, AND TO A LARGE AND ATTENTIVE AUDIENCE OF CITIZENS, 
ASSEMBLED IN THE CITY HALL, AUGUST 31ST, 1866. 

[Tills yonug- aud llourisliiiig city, wbicli tlieu contaiucd about 
18,000 iuLabitaiits, was burnt, ravaged, and razed to its Ibuuda- 
tioiis, iu tbc moutb of September, 1SC4, by tbe Federal forces 
uuder tbe couimaiid of Geu. Sbermau, during tbc four years' 
merciless iuterneciue war between tbc Nortb and tbe Soutb. 
But no soouer bad peace been declared, tbau ber returning 
tbousands wbo bad fled from tbeir blazing bomes, commenced 
to rebuild tbe ruined city and repair tbeir wasted fortunes. 
Sucb an outlay of bumau energy bas pcrbaps never been 
witnessed upon citbcr continent, in tbc same lengtb of time, 
and witb no larger resources at command.] 

On this bright gala-day busy memory sweeps, 
Upon broad, dusky wiug, the exuberant past ; 

Numbers twenty-three mouths, and looks down on 
the heaps 
Of a war-ravag'd city, just breathing her last. 



ATLANTA CRUSHED AND CROWNED. 51 

O God ! what a vision glares red on tlie eye, 

As earth-rocking thunders roll death through the 
streets, 

And millions of capital melt in the sky, 

As flames lash her buildings in wild, livid sheets ! 

Pandemonium shouts though her sulphurous hall 
Till the revel infernal re-echoes through hell. 

And the great master spirit responds to the call 
That invokes his black curse over mountaiu and 
dell. 

But enough! — there's a chapter of carnage and 
blood 
That shall glow in red letters on history's page. 
And shall rival the records of fire and of Hood 
That have scandal'd a Nero's and AttihVs age. 
****** 
The demon of war had scarce quitted his prey. 
And a conquering army its plunder and lust ; 
Its cataract roar had but just died away 
Over bomb-shatter'd buildings, now crumbled to 
dust. 

When thousands who fled from their blazing abodes, 
To seek among strangers a covert from war. 



52 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Look'd longingly back o^er the blood-clotted roads, 
And their courage replum^d, under Hope's guiding 
star. 

From the north, south, and east, the worn refugees 
come, 
And the west pours her quota in dust-cover'd 
throngs 5 
Each weeps o'er the wreck of his once happy home. 
And appeals to high Heav'n to avenge all his 
wrongs. 

FuU-soul'd and harmonious, they rush to new toils. 
And tax earth and air, sea and sky, for supplies ; 

And though myrmidon legions had gorg'd on her 
spoils. 
They swear by their manhood '•''Atlanta shall rUeP^ 

'Twas a struggle of giants that knew no recoil ! 

From morning till midnight resounded their blows 5 
The ingath'ring thousands no dangers could foil, 

Till the white flag of triumph in glory arose. 

Old Balbec and Luxor for ages have slept, 
Eedeemless and time-worn and shrouded in gloom j 



ATLANTA CRUSHED AND CROIVNED. 53 



O'er their huge broken columns the serpent has 
crept, 
And the yells of the jackal have sounded theh^ doom. 

But the deathless Gate City, though crush'd by the 
tread 
Of militant millions and thundering trains, 
Has rent her own winding-sheet, burst from the dead, 
And the new pulse of life gushes warm through 
her veins ! 

Hail ! hail ! ye proud piles of undying renown ! 

Your numbers shall swell as the ages roll on ; 
And your sun-lighted summits in grandeur look 
down 

On the contrite admirers your fame shall have won. 

Fair Queen of the Midlands ! thy reign shall extend 
From mountain to seaboard where commerce is 
found ; 

And Eeligion and Science in harmony blend. 
To foster the virtues their bulwarks surround. 

Thus, lighting the landscape and blessing the land, 
The next generation thy name shall inspire, 



54 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

To shout on the soil where thy mouuments stand, 
^' Tlie souls of our fathers ivere proof against fire ! " 

Ye parchmented hen^s of Hippocrates, rouse ! 

Your knowledge must quacks and impostors con- 
found J 
Your fond "Alma Mater" has laureFd your brows, 

And Atlanta shall honor the sons she has crown'd- 

She has own'd your profession, its temple repaired, 
Dismantled and torn by the storm that has pass'd . 

Then build up her fame with a labor unspar'd, 
That her gloom may be turn'd into glory at last. 



ALL SHALL BE WELL. 



Dark, dark is the uiglit, and the fierce winds are 
howling, 
And red, stnnning thunderbolts leap from the sky ; 
The ocean is boiling! the heavens are scowhng ! 
And Nature weeps crystalline tears from on high. 
But wait, only wait, and the future shall tell. 
That God rules the tempest^ and all shall be well. 

The morning is coming ! The storm-god is flying. 
And leaves in his rear all the spoils he has won ; 
Aurora is smiling ; her chariot is nighing, 

And soft, golden cloudlets now herald the sun. 
Then wait, only wait, and the future shall tell, 
That God rules the sunbeams^ and all shall be well. 

* # * * * * 

But again heaven darkens! The rain-floods are 
pouring, 
And torrents careering, roll wasting and wide. 



56 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

The meadows are dclug'd 5 the rivcivS are roaring, 
And flocks, herds and homes are entorab'd in tlie 
tide. 
But wait, only wait, and the future shall tell. 
That God rules the deluge^ and all shall be well. 

The wild inundation has calmly subsided — 

The streams to their channels submissive recoil ; 
A fertile alluvium thus is provided, 
And husbandmen reap richer fruits from the soil. 
Then wait, only wait, and the future shall tell. 
That God rules the harvest, and all shall be well. 

The cholera rages ! An infant is sleeping — 

A gay, godless mother has rocked it to rest ; 
But Heaven claims the cherub ! — the mother is weei)- 

And bows to her God with a spirit unblest. 
Still wait, only wait, and the future shall tell, 
That God rules in sorrow, and all shall be well. 

That chamber is hallow'd, with angels attending 
Where childhood was budding, to bloom in the 
skies 5 



"^ZZ SHALL BE WELL:' 57 

That mother has yielded — ^her prayers are ascend- 
ing—- 
Resigned and submissive, peace beams from her 
eyes. 
Then wait, only wait, and the future shall tell, 
That God rules in mercy ^ and all shall be well. 

Thus providence rules o'er the works of creation, 
And turns all the darkness of earth into light ; 
From sorrow educes the hopes of salvation, 
And crowns with its blessings misfortune and blight. 
Then wait, only wait, and the future shall tell. 
That God rules foreyer ! and all shall be 

WELL. 
3* 



08 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



AND ONE OF ITS NOBLE VICTIMS. 

A Tribute to the memory of Thomas Preston Samford, First 
Lieutenant of Company M, First Texas Begiment, and young- 
est son of the Rev. Tliomas Samford, formerly of Georgia, and 
a member of the Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in that State, but since, a resident of Marshall^ Harrison 
County, Texas, and now NO more. 

This noble young man and Christian hero, under the overpow- 
ering sense of the terrible emergency which periled the future 
destiny of the land that gave him birth, early threw himself 
into the front ranks of resistance to what he regarded unwar- 
rantable encroachments of power ; fought over the gory field, and 
through the smoke and carnage of Manassas, stood firm and un- 
flinching in all the fights around Richmond, and was reserved 
for a patriot's grave and a hero's crown, on the distant soil of 
Maryland. Amid the roar of artillery and the clash of arms in 
the fearful struggle at Sharpsburg, while rushing on with a 
sword in one hand and a pistol in the other, in front of his faith, 
ful command, and crjung out, with flushed cheek and flashing 
eye, " Strike, my boys, for your homes and your Confederacy !'' 
he gloriously fell, a martyr to the cause of the South. UncoflSned 
and unknelled, he was quietly laid away in a soldier's " red 
winding-sheet," to await the rewards of the true and the 
brave. A. M. 



THE WAR. 5» 



The earth has grown gray amid carnage and blood, 
And battle-fields reek with the gore of the slain ; 

The triumphs of pestilence, famine and flood, 
All pale in the glare of the war-god's reign. 

But red though his scepter and stormy his sway 

Over antediluvian sons of the soil, 
Surviving the Deluge, he widen'd his way 

To crush bleeding nations, or make them his spoil. 

But what are the trophies of ages gone by — 
The laurels that cincture his storm-furrow\l brow % 

Mere baubles of childhood, that fade in his eye, 
To glories that crown him a conqueror now. 

A continent shakes to the weight of his wheel, 
And panoplied millions collide on the plain j 

The mountains re-echo the clangor of steel, 
And rivers run red "with the blood of the slain I 

Here Mind, like the maniac, sunders her chains. 
And bounds to the touch that has open'd her cell ; 

In perilous flight, circles Nature's domains, 
And peers to the heights where the cherubini 
dwell, 



A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



Creation, conceding her power to explore, 
Unbosoms her secrets for ages conceal'd ; 

And Science, from deeps never sounded before, 
Uncaverns her stores for the camp and the field. 

The earth, air and ocean, are summoned at last 
To swell the key-note of the warrior's fame ; 

The hills, disembowel'd, give ore for the blast, 
And dragon-like monsters emerge from the flame. 

The mountains are tunnel'd with powder and pick, 
For subterrene armies and thundering trains ; 

And herald dispatches fly vivid and thick, 

Outsweeping the winds when the hurricane reigns. 

While out on the deep a whole argosy rides 
Of huge ^' i:)achydermata," scaly with steel, 

Spurning bullets and bombs from their war-beaten 
sides. 
As the charger the gadfly that lights on his heel. 

Far down in the floods where the sea-monsters play, 
A sulphurous earthquake in embryo lies, 

Till transport or monitor steers in its way, 
And a submarine shock tiarns its keel to the skies. 



THE WAR, 61 



The seacoast and cities with gun-metal groan, 
And stunning explosions roll back from the shore j 

While the "thunderer" Jove is outvoic'd on his 
throne, 
As the bumble-bee's hum by Niagara's roar. 

Such, such, in this iron-cast age, is the sight. 
When philosophy wings ev'ry fury with flame, 

To decimate nations — to blast and to blight. 

And blazon with blood -stains the conqueror's name. 

O God ! what an age ! Let posterity tell 
To late generations the wars of their sires, 

When Pluto's abhorr'd mythological hell 
Was mild, to the blaze of their battle-field fires. 

Yet " offences will come," for the gateway is wide 
Whose portals arethrong'd with the selfish and vile, 

That gracelessly pander to i^assion and pride, 
And gloat o'er the ruin of the land they defile. 

But justice eternal still poises the scales. 

Though rock'd by ambition or freighted with gold ; 

And, thron'd in her temple, her verdict prevails 
To smite the despoiler with curses untold. 



62 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

The demagogue brawls — supple iniuious encore, 
And cudgels rebound from undig-nilied heads ; 

The masses are madden'd from mountain to shore, 
And the cordage of government's torn into shreds. 

Spurning counsels and cautions — blind, reckless, and 
bold- 
Fanatical zealots lash on the affray ; 

And case-harden'd Shylocks turn blood into gold, 
While God's holy altars are ravag'd for prey. 

Thus fiercely and far the red crusade prevails, 
For crush'd constitutions and laws rule no more ; 

'Mid the outcries of orphans and lone widows' wails, 
A hungry menagerie riots in gore. 

War ! war ! from the thunders that peal at her gates ; 

Lifts high her portcullis and pours out her hosts ; 
Far North and far South, through a cordon of States, 

The human tornado fills Hades with ghosts. 

Hark ! hark ! ^tis our bugle that sounds to the field, 
And our yeomanry's shouts rend the air as they go. 

On ! onward they rush, without helmet or shield — 
A torrent of heroes, to bear down the foe. 



THE WAR. 63 



The wild roll of battle now echoes afar, 

And marshal'd battalions move on to the fray ; 

Unleashed from their collars, the bloodhounds of war 
Yelp shrill to the winds, as they haste to their prey. 

As links of wrought steel they are leagued against 
pow'r. 
And strike for their altars, their homes, and thek 
lives ; 
The storm-cloud has burst, and its masses still low^r, 
Yet high floats their flag where the fierce tempest 
drives. 

Bold columns through deep mountain gorges are fil'd. 
To pour like an avalanche down on the plain, 

Where blood-sheeted foes are in pyramids piFd, 
And the vulture and eagle are gorg'd on the slain. 

Thus rolling in storm over forest and flood, 
The gods might have envied the chariot of Mars ; 

As massacred legions are bathing in blood. 
And a war-ravag'd empire smokes to the stars. 

The Genius of History, pois'd o'er the land 
Where high Soutliern honor defies Northern sted^ 



64 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

Selects from our heroes tlie morally grand, 
To fix on their brows immortahty's seal. 

'Mid the ranks of young Hectors thus wedded to 
fame, 
Whose names are enstarr'd on our temple's proud 
dome — 
One beautiful orb its position shall claim 
For ages, to light up the patriot's home. 

He was born for his country, and, plum'd cap and 
heel, 
Was rock'd by the storms of a Texian sky ; 
His fiery Caduceus well temper'd steel 

Flashed quick as the hghtning when foes caught 
his eye. 

A patriot father, now hoary with years, 
Had lean'd on his "Joseph," and liv'd in his 
child 5 

The patriarch struggled — he conquer'd in tears — 
Then gave him to God and his country, and smil'd. 

Thus he mov'd to the field with a grandeur of soul 
That startled the coward and cheer'd on the brave j 



THE WAR, 65 



No bribe in his palm and no wine in his bowl — 
His shield was his conscience; his guerdon, a grave. 

He stood in the ranks an Achilles in form — 
Elastic and muscular, graceful and large j 

A model of manhood in calm or in storm, 
To shine in the Senate or tow'r in the charge. 

The throb of Ms heart was the pulse of his men — 
The flash of his eye was their beacon in fight ; 

He dash'd over hilltop or bounded through fen 
With the plunge of the lion when lambs are in sight. 

At Manassas he breasted the first shock of war, 
Enrolled in the '^ Stonewall" immortal brigade; 

He flam'd through its carnage, led on by his star. 
And sought new arenas to flesh his young blade. 

That star hung in crimson, portentous and pale. 
O'er the far field of Sharpsburg, the soil of the foe ; 

As the war-cry of squadrons rang loud on the gale, 
And troops roll'd in columns to work deeds of woe. 

In stern, gloomy grandeur our columns stood still, 
Like Etna's proud cone when his thunders are near ; 



66 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Until loiig-restraiuecl Yeugeance had master'd their 
will, 
And burst through its barriers, in quenchless ca- 
reer. 

From heart-throbbing thousands, cquipt and align'd, 
A hail-storm of iron in fury was hurPd, 

As if thunder, volcano and earthquake combined 
To sink a doom'd nation and startle the world. 

'Twas a struggle of giants that sham'd Ilomer's gods. 
Who flung rifted rocks from the mountain's torn 
side ; 
Their nussiles of vengeance but green trunks and 
sods — 
Mythological pomp, with demoniac pride. 

But the brow of our hero loom'd lofty and grand, 
Like Olympus when shaking the storm from his 
side. 

As, with saber ui)rais'd in the grasp of his hand, 
And i)istol unbelted, whole ranks he defied. 

With a shout on his lip and a blow on his blade. 
He strode over ranks of the dying and dead ; 



THE WAR. 67 



His i^lialanx respond, as they rush to his aid, 
But ahis! the pale star from its heavens had fled ! 

He fell ! But a demon unchamber^d that ball 
That rifled the heart's-blood of virtue and truth — 

That blighted the homestead and darken'd the hall 
Where age had long bask'd in the smiles of his 
youth. 

But, peaceful and pure, and in sight of his rest, 
His soul on the wing for its crown in the sky ; 

With icomaji to weep o'er the warrior's breast. 
It was honor and triumph and glori/, to die ! 

J^o hearse wav'd its ebony plumes o'er the dead ; 

No pompous procession encircled his grave 5 
UnknelPd and uncofiin'd, he pillow'd his head 

On the soil of the stranger — a friend to the 
brave. 

O God ! shall despoilers still ravage the land, 
Unglutted with slaughter, unsated with blood ? 

Sure virtue must triumph, and judgment demand 
The dark day of vengeance — the doomsday of 
God! 



A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



Salvation may linger, and scoui'ge follow scourge, 
Till Moloch and Mammon lie prostrate and crushed, 

But the nation from gloom shall to glory emerge^ 
And her wild wail of horror forever be hushed. 

Then sleep, noble son of a God- trusting sire ! 

Unstirr'd by the tread of huge caisson or gun ; 
Sleep ! sleep with thy comjieers that waded through 
blood, 

Till wak'd to the fame which thy virtues have won. 

Thy country's now tipped with the Ught of the morn, 
And the nations but wait for the fall flood of day j 

Thy name shall then reach generations unborn, 
When T. Preston Sampord has molder'd to clay. 



SUPPLEMENT TO " THE WARJ' 69 



Addressed hy tlie aiitJior to his long esteemed friend William F. 
Samford, A.m., LL.D., of Auburn, Alabama — brother of the 
sainted Preston. 

But still I would linger to hear from the past 
The echoes which Memory rings on my ears ; 

The thoughts which they stir for a life-time shall last. 
When the heart-stricken household has outlivVl 
its tears. 

One son of the group in that ancestral home, 
The wing'd god of eloquence richly endow'd 5 

His tongue like the lightning that plays round the 
dome, 
And heralds the thunder that rolls from the cloud. 

In life's blushing morning he sat at my board, 
Confiding and truthful and brilliant and strong; 

Fresh plum'd, like the eaglet, he sported and soar'd, 
And gaz'd on creation, m rapture and song. 



70 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

There patron and protege knelt at one sbrine, 
And heart beat to heart with the pendulum's 
truth ; 

That virgin affection shall never decline, 
But live as the loves of Naomi and Euth. 

His heaven-born wtues spurn'd pagod and pelf, 
And honor unshorn ruPd his generous breast j 

His noble young heart sought a duplicate self : 
He woo'd and he won, and the union was blest. 

A pure, lovely matron now sits by his side, 
The queen of his household and light of his life 5 

The mother more dear than the beautiful bride — 
For grief finds a balm in the smiles of a wife. 

Three decades of years with their deeds have gone by, 
And millious have sunk as the rain-drops at sea 5 

The sage and the stripUiig in common dust lie, 
But '' William " and friendship) survive yet for me. 

Nay, friendshiph too formal and soulless a name 
For the deeper and richer and holier grace 

That burns for an age with unquenchable flame 
In souls that unite in angelic embrace. 



SUPPLEMENT TO " THE WAR. " 71 

Oil ! give me the glory of midsummer morn, 
Sufiusiug the hilltops and warming the vale ; 

And leave to the bats and the owlets forlorn, 
The moon-lighted landscape, so cold and so pale. 

The loves of the angels are kindled and tonVl 
In the glow of the Godhead that beams from their 
eyes, 

Where day without night is in splendor enthron'd, 
To burn on forever in rose-tinted fskies. 



72 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



f%t fmln^ 



KESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THE AUTHOR, TO THAT IMPORTANT 
AND USEFUL CLASS OF MEN, RAILROAD CONDUCTORS. 

When bards long ago sang the ocean, 
And mountain and riv^er and plain, 

They felt not the thrilling emotion 
Inspired by the thundering train. 

They ne'er lieard the sound of the whistle^ 
And steam never entered their brain ; 

They lauded the " rose " and the " thistle," 
But never the thundering train. 

We propose, then, in grateful ovation. 

An humble, pretensionless strain ; 
And, enthused by our novel vocation. 

Chant praise to the thundering train. 

***** 
The Conductor leads on the procession — 

The lord of his special domain ; 



THE TRAIN. 73 



Ko claimant disputes his possession — 
He reigns on the thundering train. 

Neither pageants nor levees delay him ; 

No claims are allowed to detain j 
The prince and the pauper obey him, 

While ruling his thundering train. 

Though the fields and the crops are in danger 
From drought, or from down-pouring rain, 

To both in his sphere he's a stranger, 
Exempt, on his thundering train. 

Let the soldier abandon his cottage. 
And wade through the bloody campaign — 

His fare only hoe-cake or pottage 5 
YL^ feasts on his thundering train. 

While thousands in cities are dying. 
And armies are counting their slain, 

With free ventilation he's flying, 
Unharm'd, on his thundering train. 

No Blackstone engrosses his vision — 
No ledger his eyesight to strain ; 



74 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

He guards against breaks and collision, 
And smiles on his thundering train. 

The triumi)hs that crown his dominions, 
The nabob and churl may disdain j 

But, heedless of captious opinions, 
lie's king on the thundering train. 

He rolls over valleys and fountains. 
And skims o'er the emerald plain, 

Or sweeps through the gorges of mountains, 
O'erhangiug his thundering train. 

His engineer, true to his station, 

Stands fronting the tempest and rain, 

To guide to theu^ safe destination 
The crowds on the thundering train. 

Would the Cyclops he bridles rush faster % 
He blusters and hisses in vain ; 

For he's grasp'd by the hand of a master ! 
And smooth rolls the thundering train. 

He stops not when sunlight is closing, 
And Venus is scepter'd to reign 5 



THE TRAIN. 75 



But startles the dull and the dozing 
By the roar of his thundering train. 

His head-lights are ever kept burning — 
His rear-beacon shines not in vain j 

Theyjrs^ floods the track at each turning, 
The last guards the thundering train. 

Orion, the heavens adorning, 

Looks down on the glimmering plain. 

And a glance from the Star of the Morning 
Illumines his thundering train. 

He scatters the wonders of science, 
To national commerce germane 5 

And to lightning and storm bids defiance — 
All safe on his thundering train. 

His presence enlivens each nation. 
Enlightened, devout, or profane ; 

While multitudes crowd ev'ry station, 
To welcome his thundering train. 

He carries the Cross and its story 
To heathen beyond the deep main ; 



76 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

And heralds its fortlicomiug glory, 
On board of his thundering train. 

Thus kingdoms and peoples, united 
By brotherhood's magical chain, 

Whose lands the Conductor has lighted, 
Shall shout to the thundering train. 

When the nations, in harmony blended, 
Shall hail the millennial reign, 

And Messiah to earth has descended — 
Farewell to the TnuwDEEiNa Tkain I 



THE TRIUMPH OF JOSEPH, 77 



BEFORE THE COURT OF THE EGYPTIAN KING. 

Yon cliariot is rolling in state ! 

Young Joseph, tlie friend of tlie king, 
Sits vestur'd in robes of the great — 

On his finger the royal gold ring. 

O'er his virtuous bosom descends 

A circle of Oi)hir's pure ore ; 
While the shout of the criers ascends, 

And thousands are bowing before. 

King Phar'oh thus honors the youth 
Whose purity shone as the sun ; 

Whose modesty, wisdom and truth. 
The monarch's high confidence won. 

All Egyi)t exults in his reign, 
While famine and pestilence fly ; 

And her storehouses, groaning with grain, 
Yield Canaan itself a supply. 



78 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



How proudly the peak of yon mountain 
Looks down from the arch of the sky, 

As in grandeur it shadows the fountain 
That sports through its cliffs ui)on high I 

The soft silver light of the morning 

Encircles its emerald brow, 
Ere the i)easant by chanticleer's warning 

Is roused, at its base, to the plow. 

It stands in its lofty seclusion, 

Where sunshine and peace ever reign ; 

Far, far from the gloom and confusion^ 
That checker the populous plain. 

As the lion the dew from his shoulder. 
It shakes the wild storm from its side ; 

While below, where the torrent grows bolder, 
Wliole flocks are entomb'd in the tide. 



THE MOUNT OF HOLINESS. 79 

Thus throuM ou the heights of devotion — 
Sublime iu their hallowing glow — 

The Ohiistiau transcends the commotion 
That rocks the whole region below. 

When Sorrow her storm-cloud has driven, 
And deep moral darkness abounds, 

He bathes in the sunlight of lleav'n, 
And smiles on the gloom that surrounds. 

Absorbed in the rajiturous vision 

That catches his heavenward eye, 
He heeds not the whlil and collision 

Of crowds that are hurrying by. 

Secure in his bright elevation, 
He feels, but as mist from the cloud. 

The sweep of that vast inundation 
That whelms the licentious crowd. 

Thence, thence let me meet the Eternal, 

And reign above fire and flood ! 
Encinctur'd with beauties supernal, 

And crown'd with the glory of God. 



80 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



(for his wife.) 

Written by the aathor trhen far from home, on Talcntino's Day, February 14, 1851. 

Dear wife of my bosom ! wheu, youthful and gay, 
We met on the eve of our bright wedding day, 
In the blush of young beauty you stood by my side. 
And my heart haiPd with rapture its lovely young 
bride. 

But twenty-four summers have since roU'd away, 
And the glossy brown locks have been soften'd to 

gray 5 
A staid, cheerful mother now sits by my side — 
The matron more lov'd than the beautiful bride. 



THE BALLOON'S ASCENSION, 81 



The i^lain of the grand Champs de Mars is alive, 
Aud Paris her thousands pours out to the sight, 

As bees rush in columns, deserting their hives. 
And cluster in swarms round the queen in her 
flight. 

A mammoth balloon hangs suspended in air, 
Collaps'd, uninflated, and cabled to earth ; 

The gas-tubes disgorge — ^liuman multitudes stare — 
And the first inspiration proclaims a new birth. 

The beautiful globe, as it breathes, swells ai)ace, 
Enlarges, and rises till rotund in form ; 

Then struggles to sever the cords at its base. 
To bathe in the sunlight above cloud and storm. 

But, bound and engirdled, its essays are vain. 

Till the master balloonist has sever'd its ties j 
Then, loos'd from its moorings, it mounts from the 
l)lain. 

And buoyant and towering steers for the skies. 

4* 



82 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



Thus, grand though its outliuc, the Soul liugers here. 

Coutracted aud crush'd iu Satauic embrace j 
Nor claims its Elysium, nor soars to its sphere, 

Till expanded and volum'd and buoyant by grace. 

Then, spurning its captor, but biding its time. 
It swells toward heaven, impatient to rise. 

Till the blow of release from the Master Sublime 
XJnprisons the captive with gladd'ning surprise. 

Then, free as the air, to the regions of light. 
Elastic and soaring, it leaves the world^s gaze ; 

No sweep of the telescope follows its flight, 
Engkt by the Godhead and lost in its blaze. 



THE NOACHIAN DELUGE, 



In you blue deep where float, iu bouudlessness 
Remote, the milHonary orbs of heaveu — 
Graud epochs, congruous with th' eternal plans — 
In long, long cycles of returnmg years 
Attend the presence of the reignmg God. 

Eevolving centuries chiioe their grand events 
Throughout the mighty frame- work of the skies, 
Where solar centers move their trains of worlds, 
And suns and satelUtes in dazzling pomp 
Their gorgeous systems wheel through space pro- 
found ; 
Creation^s glowing frontier coasting far, 
And blending revolutions vast, sublime, 
In starry poise upon one awful point I 
That point, the glory of the Milky Zone — 
Great Maedler's focal universe* — perhaps 



* Tlie distinguished German astronomer, Maedler, lias, by along and 
laboi-ious course of investigation, discovered— as lie believes— what wo 
liavo long regarded as existing somewhere in space, viz., the stupen- 
dous stationary central system, about which all the solar systems in 
the stellar universe are supposed to revolve, iu long cycles of centuries. 



84 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

The council-cliamber of the King of kings, 
Shekinah's lofty antitype, where God 
Is seen, amid the cherubim enthroned, 
And Nature's starlit temple spreads its dome, 
To gather incense from ten thousand shrines. 

O fathomless abyss of wonders new ! 
Where thought adventurous reels, and shuns the gaze. 
Shrinks back to earth, and on her planet-home 
Finds more than scope to try her loftiest pow'rs. 
And yet that home, among the works of God 
How small ! A ray — a pale, a lonely ray — 
Amid th' effulgence of the blazing skies ! 
Still, still this minim orb, by birthright ours. 
To finite minds outspreads phenomena 
Of startling grandeur — staggering hoary faith. 
Confounding reason and o'erwhelming thought. 

The EARTH then be our theme : one grand event 
In all her time-worn history enough 
To crowd the present hour. 

Age after age, 
Her scath'd and rugged form had proudly borne 
The dread catastrophes which rudely grav'd 



THE NO A CHI AN DEL UGE, 85 



Their petty triumphs on her marble hills 5 
But still she stood to bide her future woes. 

Of changes wrought by deep convulsive throes 
Wide propagated from her burning heart* — 
Unbedding seas, upheaving continents, 
Submerging moimtain-chains in ocean deeps, 
And cleaving chasms for her frighten'd floods f — 
While, bursting from her swoll'n and rupturVl veins 
Three hundred rivers pour, of liquid lire,| 
To blight the land and waste the fuming seas. 
Of these we nothing say : 'tis ours to mark 
One scene — one dismal scene— where Vengeance rul'd, 
And guilty millions met their changeless doom. 

Man — rebel man — had spurnVlthe reign of ITeaven, 
And fiercely rush'd to scenes of lust and blood. 



* The well sustained doctrine of the earth's interior or central lieat 
is here recognized. 

t These geological changes have actually taken place, and their con- 
sequent phenomena are i)lainly recorded among the mountain up- 
heavals, disrupted strata, and fossil and mineral deposits of our globe. 

t The largest estimated number of active volcanoes now upon the 
earth's surface. 



86 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

A godless progeny, in lapse of years, 

Wide spread the infecting curse, till, steep'd in sin, 

The drunken nations toppled o'er the abyss 

Which flaming Justice opened at their feet. 

Retmng Mercy dropp'd the final tear, 

And exiled Virtue sought her native skies. 

One aged sire, of all the abandon'd throng, 
Still worshiped God, and kept His altars pure. 
Six hundred years had wreathed his noble brow 
With fleecy honors, and his faithful voice 
For five score past had warnVl his wayward race. 
The faithful few whose beacon lights had shone 
In lonely luster 'mid the moral gloom 
Were gone, and Vengeance hurried to her work. 
Old Lamech clos'd his eyes in peace — and, last^ 
The hoary-hair'd Methuselah, worn down 
With pious labors of a thousand years. 
Was call'd to rest, to shun the gathering storm. 
The stage was clear j then why should judgment 

sleep, 
Perdition linger, or fierce wrath delay ? 
They did not sleep, nor linger, nor delay. 
Earth, laboring to her trembling i)oles, seem'd task'd 
To evolve the Almighty's desolating curse. 



THE NO A CHI AN DEL UGE, 87 

But let US rise to Contemplatiou's heights, 
Aud gaze across the gulf of ages past, 
To realize the horrors of the scene. 

****** 

Behold, how calm the earth ! how still the seas ! 
Portentous silence reigns j Avhile far aud wide 
The dreamy air seems bound in Lethean spell, 
And nature's breathing hosts no change suspect. 
^Tis morning's dewy hour. The god of day 
On noiseless wheel mounts up the steep of heaven, 
And sheds his purple beams o'er lake and hill. 
Above, below, around, creation's hush'd, 
As if in dread presentiment of doom. 
A pause — an awful pame ! — ^foretokens ruin. 

But hark ! A distant hum disturbs the air ; 
Earth's stirring thousands swell the echoing din, 
Nor mark pale nature's signals in the skies. 
Her deathlike stillness and her pidseless frame. 
The thoughtless sons of fashion hurry by. 
To feast and dance — alas ! then* final hour. 
The worldly merchant lauds his wares, and boasts 
The yearly gains his practic'd skill insures. 
The plodding peasant goads his lazy team, 
Aud counts his golden harvest in advance j 



88 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

While bloated debauchees abhor the light, 
And, lock'd iu guilty arms, provoke their fate. 

No eye is heavenward. Lust and Mammon rage, 
And reeking Passion, stooping o'er the mane, 
With sounding lash and rowels dipi)'d in blood. 
Still i)lies his smoking steed and braves his doom j 
While gory Murder — fiercest of his train — 
Snuffs th' infected air, and madly waves 
Ilis crimson poniard as he posts to hell. 
Oh ! fearful prelude to the impending curse ! 
Dread spectacle ! A would without a God ! 

But mark the darkening heavens, the fiery sun, 
The rolling vapors, and the deepening storm ! 
Egyptian blackness shrouds the morning skies, 
And raking whirlwinds run their wild career ! 
Eed bolts leap thick from clouds surcharged with 

death ! 
Loud herald thunders ring the nations' knell, 
And earth ^' gives signs of woe that all is lost.'' 
The deafning clarion of the world-wide storm 
Awakes the angry deep. Then, palsy-struck, 
The shudd'ring globe upon its axis halts ; 
And hoary ocean, restless in his bed, 



THE NOACHIAN DELUGE, 



Uplifts his giant form to Alpine height ; 
And, gathering mightier strength, from pole to pole 
Eolls coastward all his world of waves, and swells 
The wild uproar of struggling elements 5 
Then dashing on, with fearful shock assails 
His granite barriers of two thousand years, 
O'erijlunges far their pigmy heights, and whelms 
In wat'ry woe the founder'd continents.* 

Old Etna groans, and hisses from his caves, 
To spurn the intruding tides that climb his steeps 
And dare his dismal flames. Wild waters plunge 
In frightful fury down his furnace throat. 
He heaves amain j his red foundations rock 5 



* Infidelity ouco carped about tlio impossibility of submerging the 
liigliest mountains with the amount of water contained in all tbo 
oceans and seas of our globe ; and therefore aficctcd to ridicule the 
Mosaic account of the Deluge. This point, however, has been long 
since settled, by calculations made upon safe data, in favor of the di- 
vine historian. The author has here conjectui*ed, that as the fluids and 
solids of our globe, by uniform velocity of revolution, had acquired a 
common " motal inertia," it was only necessary for the Divine fiat to 
check for a moment the usual speed of its diurnal movement ; and, 
as the waters were mobile, and could not immediately' accommodate 
themselves to tlie sudden change of inertia in the solids, the inevitable 
result would be the outbreak of oceans, seas and lakes over their re- 
spective barriers, and the consequent submergence of continents : a 
physical result readily illustrated by the plunge of a fluid over the lip 
of a containing vessel which has been suddenly stopped when in the 
midst of a uniform and brisk motion. 
4** 



90 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

And hot disgorging from his molten deeps 
Whole cataracts of lire, he madly spouts 
The boiling seas to drench th^ astonish'd skies. 
Vesuvius too makes battle with the deej), 
And flood and fire contend for mastery. 

Tomboro,* thund'ring till his roar is heard 
Three hundred leagues, confronts the ocean-shock ; 
And, like a boa scotch'd and nursing wrath, 
In forked fury shoots out tongues of fire. 

Fierce Hecla frowns, and from his crater rolls 
Portentous smoke in volumes through the air j 
But feels his lurid throne profoundly quake, 
As revolutionary waves — asleep 
For twenty centuries at his rock-bound base — 
O'erleap his bulwarks and ascend his heights. 



*A volcanic mountain in Sumbawa, one of tlio islands of the 
Grecian Archipelago, from wliicli one of the most fearful eruptions re- 
corded in history took place, commencing on the 5th of April, 1815, 
and continuing until July following ; the explosions being heard to 
the distance of 960 geogi-aphical miles in one direction and 720 in the 
opposite ; overwhelming the island with blazing lava, volcanic tufa 
and ashes, leaving only 20 survivors out of a population of 12,000, and 
disgorging from its crater solid material enough to form a globe six 
miles in diameter. 



THE NOACHIAN DELUGE, 91 

Deep, sinuous mountain gorges madly foam 
With pent-up seas, impatient of restraint, 
And new-born gulfs are cradled in the clouds. 
Sea-monsters, from their briuy homes afar. 
Float buoyant over Andes' proudest peaks, 
And gambol in the floods 'twixt earth and heayenj 
While currents sweep in vast gyrations round. 
And furious maelstroms whirl with deaf 'ning roar, 
Till, loosened from their icy beds on high, 
Iluge avalanches, tumbliug headlong down, 
Are in the mighty vortices engorged. 

O God of grandeur ! who shall sketch the scene, 
When outrag'd justice stu^s th' Eternal arm 
To signaUze its pow'r in judgment pomp % 



Behold how wide stern desolation reigns ! 
Confounded crowds of staring skeptics fl^^ 
In dripping garments from the vengeful floods, 
As, pouriug fast, they rise to loftier heights. 
Old age is there — grown lank and gray in sin — 
But eschews still to die j and clamb'ring slow. 
With crutch and crippled gait, seeks neighboring 
mounds, 



A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



In vain attempt to escape its stormy doom. 
Soft infancy is there, and, rndely torn 
In shivering terror from the parent breast, 
Sinks down asphyctic in the yawning seas. 

The dehige gTows till mountains, undermined 
And nodding to their heaving base, are seen 
With thundering plunge engulf d to rise no inore! 
Ten thousand whirlpools float their millions by, 
With arms outstretch'd for help. Their x>iercing 

shrieks 
But swell the bellowings of the angry seas 5 
While cities, bowed beneath the briny scourge, 
Disgorge their drowning throngs — then sink en- 

tomb'd. 
Each lofty pinnacle that longest braves 
The grand debacle in its upward swoop, 
Hangs clustered thick with crowds of liuman forms, 
Transfix'd with horror, as the lawless waves 
In tow'ring vengeance lash their tottering feet. 



O God ! the hour has come ! One moment more, 
And all is gone ! The last lone cliff is reach'd — 
A final breaker laves the screaming groups — 



THE NO A CHI AN DEL UGE, 93 

The monarch mountain of a thousand peaks 
Succumbs ! Peoud Everest* is seen no more ! 

****** 
Far eastward! rolls th' impetuous, stormy tide, 
Till oceans, seas and lakes in solemn league 
Their billows blend, and, comi^assing the zones, 
With Uquid winding-sheet invest the globe. 
The earth is all a tomb, and judgment's sealed I 

****** 

But see ! There floats upon the blue expanse, 
In dubious shape, a dim and distant thing ! 
In passive mood it yields to warring waves. 
Then mounts their crests, and hovers in the air. 
It nears apace ! and, hurried by the winds, 
To bold dimensions grows ! Now full reveal'd — 



* Mount Everest, in the Himalaya range, is now regarded tlio loftiest 
mountain summit on tlio eartli, being 29,002 feet (nearly 55 miles) above 
tlie level of tlie sea. 

t The revolution of the earth upon its axis being from west to east, 
a sudden suspension of its motion would precipitate the inundating 
waters over their respective boundaries in that direction, so that the 
western continent of North and South America would bo first sub- 
merged by the waves of the Northern and Southern Pacific ; Europe, 
Northern Asia, and Northern Africa, by the Northern Atlantic ; Mid- 
dle and Southern Asia by the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Sea of Arabia, 
and Bay of Bengal ; and New Holland and the East India Islands by 
the Indian Ocean, &c. ; interestingly corresponding— especially in the 
Northern Hemisphere, where most geological examinations have been 
made—to the lino of direction along which the erratic rocks of Europe 
and the bowlders of the United States have been evidently borne by 
some great flood of waters from their original beds. 



94 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

A massive pile — it moves in kingly state, 
High booming o'er the fathomless abyss I 

Amid the opening sunshine, and the storm 
Kow rolUng back to leave the floods at rest, 
A gorgeous rainbow spans its lofty brow, 
Enthron'd in splendor on the bending skies ! 
On ! onward still it drives o'er deeps profound — 
O'er Alps' and Apennines' and Andes' peaks — 
Nor stoops to own the grandeur of their rank. 
A patriarchal palace stands confess'd — 
The mammoth wonder of a world inhum'd — 
Surcharg'd with life, to stock a world to come I 

Nor helm nor compass steers the steady prow. 
Supernal Wisdom guides its bold career ; 
For Noah's household rides upon the seas. 
Encircled by the promise of his God ! 

Float on, immortal voyager ! thy faith, 
Fast anchor'd by the Eternal throne, controls 
The Godhead's pledg'd and boundless pow'r j and when 
The fissur'd earth shall swallow up her seas. 
And liberated mountains peer again 
Above the ransom'd plains, thou still shalt live, 
The godly sire of millions yet unborn I 



SACRED LOCALITIES IN PALESTINE. 



READ BEFORE THE OXFORD SUNDAY SCHOOL. 

Ever liallow'd on earth are the spots that were trod 
By the feet of Messiah, the crowu'd Son of God. 
As landmarks they stand on the highway of years, 
To move passing milhons to smiles and to tears. 

Old Palestine, wasted, these trophies still boasts, 
That shine on her hilltops and speak from her coasts. 
No rnin can blast them, no power entomb ; 
Their beacons shall burn till the morning of doom. 

The deeds of the past rise again to the eye, 
As the grand panorama rolls silently by. 
All radiant with scenes that enrapture the soul. 
And shall light up the heav'nswhen the last thunders 
roll. 

Mount Zion's hoar brow monumentally looms 
Over decades of ages, and kingdoms and tombs 



96 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

Once lustrous with glories by God's temple giv'n, 
Now shoru of her splendors, but pointing to heaven. 

Dear Olivet still courts the sun as he shines 

O'er her green grassy slopes, and her figs and her 

vines ; 
Unchalleng'd she wears all her honors alone — 
For a cloud from her hrom bore the Lord to his 

throne. 

Let us weep over Bethany — ^name ever sweet, 
Euphonious and dear ! — in its lowly retreat; 
For its glory is gone ; not a vestige remains. 
Save the halo which history sheds o'er its plains. 

Blest Lake of the Hills, ever lov'd Galilee ! 
Thy shores and thy waters are dearest to me. 
In childhood thy stories were gTav'd on my heart 
As intaglios on marble, enchisel'd by art. 

For thy bright, Umpid wavelets once nursed the Man- 

God, 
And rock'd Him to rest on their soft swelling flood j 
And when wild Euroclydon rush'd from his caves. 
And lash'd into madness thy foam-crested waves, 



SACRED LOCALITIES IN PALESTINE, 97 

iVt a word from His lips, and a glance from His eye, 
Fled the dark howling temi^est in silence to die j 
And thy poor throbbing bosom pnlsated no more, 
But fondly embrac'd Him and bore Him to shore. 

Little Bethlehem's heights rest in peace as of yore, 
But her '^ star'' and her " manger'' are long since no 

more. 
There the great Shepherd-King saw his first light of 

morn j 
,There his antitype, Christ, for the nations was born. 

O'er her midnight an angelic anthem roll'd high. 
And the song of salvation first rang through the sky. 
In her bosom she cradled the world's infant Lord, 
And sheltered His manhood, and bow'd and ador'd. 

To the ear of the stranger no echo resounds j 
Her streets lie neglected, and silence surrounds j 
Still the Judean mountains o'erhang her west line. 
And their steep, terrac'd sides nurse the olive and 
vine. 

Though dismantled and peel'd, and inglorious now^ 
Immortality's seal has been fixed on her brow j 
5 



98 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

And she bides but her time, till her offspring again 
Shall revisit Ilis birthi)lace, in glory to reign. 

When the '^ Red Cross " has conquered, and hell's in 

despair, 
And the angel of doom sounds his blast on the air ; 
When the sleeping redeem'd shall the summons 

obey, 
And shall muster by millions to hail the Great Day — 

As the down-pouring legions of bliss greet the earth, 
And Bethlehem points to her manger and birth ^ 
Angelic hosannas shall roll o'er her plains, 
And the broad empyrean resound with the strains. 

But peace, joy and beauty are transient from birth, 
For bliss must be follow'd by blight upon earth. 
Dread contrast ! when brightness and loveliness fly, 
And yield w.\} their reign, amid darkness to die. 

Thus o'er the brook Kedron Gethsemane shone 
When her garden embower'd her Lord all alone j 
But estrang'd and forlorn, as she now strikes the 

sight, 
She seems left to mourn o'er His last dismal night. 



SACRED LOCALITIES IN PALESTINE. 99 

But i)eerless on earth is tlie last spot we name, 
Where the focahz'd vengeance of hell shot its flame ; 
Where darkness at noonday, and earthquake and 

blood, 
Proclaim'd human bliss, and the reign of a God. 

The fame of these triumphs old Calvary won. 
And honor'd her God through His conquering Son ; 
While her Cross shall still live in the mem'ries of 

heaven. 
And homage divine to its Victim be given. 

Like sculptured mausolea rear'd in the East, 
To hand down the fame of their heroes deceased, 
These evergreen landmarks shall tow'r over tombs, 
To eternize the scenes which the Cross still illumes. 



100 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



How sweet are the notes which the song-bird sings, 
From his perch in his wire-bound cell ! 

How plaintive his strain through the parlor rings, 
Like the tones of a silver bell ! 

The sunshine streams through his lattic'd cage, 

And the wild winds fan his breast ; 
He longs for the mate of his fledgeling age, 

And carols himself to rest ! 

All is lonely and still as the night rolls by ; 

And he hangs on the time-worn wall 
Till the day-beams shoot from the morning sky 

And blaze through the old oak hall. 

Through his homely wicket the day peers in. 

And reveals no barrier there j 
For his keep — not closed by a bolt or pin — 

Stands wide to the balmy air. 

Arous'd from his dreams with a scream and spring. 
He bursts from his long night's tomb ; 



THE SONG-BIRD UNCAGED. 101 

With a hymu on his tongue and the dew on his wing, 
He escapes to his mountain home. 

Thus away from the reahns of perennial day, 

And the land of the pure and blest. 
The soul looks out from its lodge of clay, 

And longs for its endless rest. 

When its skies are aglow with the Godhead's rays, 
'Tis in vain that the chill wind blows j 

It exults in the prospect of balmier days, 
And sinks into holy repose. 

Now the night steals on — the relentless night 

Of the lonely and lifeless tomb — 
Where a star burns not, nor a glow-worm's light 

Ever gleams on the dismal gloom. 

But a prince sleeps there, and the death-king flies 

From the courts of his ghostly reign, 
As the last sun purples the eastern skies, 

And the life-pulse bounds again. 

A monarch springs from the conquered tomb, 

And ascends to his throne on high ; 
And as angel millions escort him home, 

Hallelujahs rend the sky. 



102 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



ELEGY ON 

f life %%m\t^ %tm\^%tt ^^^tt^;' 

A Tribute of Affection from his Grandfather, the Author, 

Our sweet little cherub, farewell ! farewell 1 

Thou hast fled in the morn of life ; 
Soon plum'd for heaven, and too bright to dwell 

In this world of sin and strife. 

But sudden and loud as the thunder-shock 

To the sinking lamb in the fold, 
While the helpless, frightened and flying flock 

Its motionless form behold. 

Was the stunning call from the angel world, 

That sunder'd the ties of earth, 
Which \\\ four short years had their spirals curl'd 

Kound the hearts that gave them birth. 

But the deed is done, and our treasurers gone I 
'Twas a loan from heaven, at best ; 



*Acci<lentall3^ shot, at four years of a:;o, in Oxford, Ga. 



en A RLES ME MINCER CA PERS. 1 <J*J 

The " Fiithcr of Lights " has but claim'd His own, 
And '' our Charlie " has gone to rest. 

On that coki, pale forehead, in silence now 

Shine the traces of innocence blest j 
Like the sun's last rajs on an iceberg's brow, 

Ere it sinks to its deep-sea rest. 

But oh ! the sighs and the groans and tears 

Tliat cu-cle the old hearthstone, 
Where his sparkling eye, in those happy years, 

Had but brighter and brighter shone ! 

How lonely and still are the childish toys 

That lie on the shelf and lloor ! — 
The sadd'ning mementoes of guileless joys 

Never, never to gladden us more. 

But alas ! they linger here in vain j 

The spirit that charmM them ^s fled ; 
And our hearts shall yearn till they meet him again, 

With a starry crown on his head. 

EnrolPd for the courts of a cloudless reign, 
Let the infantile prince sleep on, 



104 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Till the angel herald returns again, 
When the gloom of the grave is gone. 

Then the virgin spirit shall come in light, 

With eternal youth its boon, 
To ennoble the dust which we hide from sight 

Till it shines in the blaze of noon. 

Then hush forever the murmuring tongue ! 

For the morning of joy shall come^ 
And the family harp shall again, restrung, 

Resound in our heavenly home* 



THE WORLD WITHOUT AND WITHIN, 105 



THE 

BOTH SEEKING REPOSE. 

THEOuaH all the vast domain of earth and of oceans, 
All nature submits to high Heaven's behest. 

Her fearful and wild elemental commotions 
Are but struggles prelusive of ultimate rest. 

The solid earth trembles — whole continents rocking 
With gases elastic pent up in her breast — 

Till the heaving volcano, all barriers mocking, 
Disgorges its fires, and the globe is at rest. 

The atfnosphere, tossed by the cyclone's gyrations, 
Bears death on its wings from the storm-brewing 
west, 

Uprooting the forest, o'erwhelming plantations — 
Then pure, though exhausted, at last sinks to rest. 

Old Niagara's flood, with no pow'r to restrain it, 
Tumultuous rolls to the steep, rocky crest ; 
5* 



106 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Then with thunderous plunge leaves a rainbow be- 
hind it, 
And silently glides to the ocean to rest. 

When regal ambition is fuming and towering, 
And hosts rush to battle, their valor to test, 

The red clouds of war, hurtling angry and low'ring, 
Are rent by artillery, and kingdoms find rest. 

The doomed sons of labor, aroused by the morning. 
Have toiled through the sunshine, fatigued and un- 
blest. 
Till the bright starry millions, the heavens adorning, 
Have Ughted them home and have lulled them to 
rest. 

The man who has honored the God of creation, 
And striven through life for the realms of the blest, 

As the storm-clouds retire — to his soul's exultation — 
Shall gaze on the rainbow, the token of rest. 

This wondrous economy knows no cessation, 
But reigns under heaven, as the wisest and best. 

Thus tempest, and tumult, and toil, and privation, 
Though ages should pass, are the preludes of rest. 



THE WORLD WITHOUT AND WITHIN. 107 

But if earthquakes and cyclones and cataracts, yield- 
ing, 

Obey the decree to their natures address'd 5 
Then, courage, my soul ! for th' Eternal is wielding 

The world's moral forces to crown thee with rest. 

And when bliss sempiternal our senses engages. 
This truth — long by millions angelic confess'd — 

Shall shine on forever, unmeasured by ages — 
That service in heaven is the glory of rest 



108 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



IVviitcn by request of the ladies of Oxford, Ga., to he sung on the occa- 
sion of strewing garlands upon their tombs, in the '' Soldiers' 
Cemetery, '^ May 1, 1867. 

Farewell, heroic strangers I 
We weep around your tombs. 

For us you fac'd all dangers, 
For us you met your dooms. 

CHORUS. 

No mother now can bless you, 
No father's presence cheer j 

No loving wife caress you : 
You rest in silence here. 

The storm of war has ended, 

The roar of battle ceased ; 
No posts are now defended : 

Their guards are all released. 

Cho. — No mother now, etc. 



A TRIBUTE TO THE HEROIC DEAD. 109 

The vernal flowers are blooming, 

And nature lives again, 
While cheerless winter'' s looming 

Around our honored slain. 

Qho. — No mother now, etc. 

But here, in grateful duty, 

Your mother's sex have come 
To wreathe in fragrant beauty 

The soldier's lonely tomb. 

Cho. — No mother now, etc. 

Forget you will we never ! 

Where'er we rest or roam ; 
Your names shall live forever 

Where Freedom finds a home I 

Oho, — No mother now, etc. 



110 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



LET PAST ILLS BE FORGOTTEN, AND FUTURE JOYS TRUSTFULLY 
ANTICIPATED. 

Another year has fled and gone ! 

Its buried millions sleep. 
Its beggar'd orphans sigh alone — 

Its widowed mothers weep. 

The lurid storm that hurtled high, 

With vengeance on its wings, 
Has fled j but left a gloomy sky, 

Where godless strife still rings. 

Ten thousand tombless dead are there — 

Once heroes in the field — 
And sorrow wails along the air, 

Where cannon-thunders peaPd. 

The dim and distant past yet gleams 
In fitful light afar, 



A NEW YEAR 'S REFLECTIONS— \m^. 1 1 1 

While New Year i^ours its birthday beams, 
And lights its morning star. 

Then why recall these months of pain, 

And re-enact their woes % 
Must grief and tears forever reign, 

Though Heaven its smiles bestows ! 

Away ! insurgent thoughts, away 1 

In Lethean floods expire. 
I hail with joy the new-born day ; 

New themes my spirit fire. 

A God surrounds the path I tread ; 

His rainbow spans my sky ; 
His nameless mercies crown my head ; 

His angel guards are nigh. 

Then welcome each returning year, 

While light and love are given ; 
For when we close this brief career, 

Our life begins in heaven. 



112 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



I HAVE seen the sunlit mountain 
Bathing 'mid the clouds of spring ; 

I have heard the gushing fountain 
Loudly through the forest ring : 

I have skimmed the boiling billow, 
'Twixt the ocean flood and sky j 

When bright Phoebus sought his pillow 
'Mid the sea-nymjihs' lullaby : 

I have seen a peerless glory 
Arch the darkling front of heaven j 

And have heard creation's story 
By the starry millions given. 

And amidst these scenes of splendor, 
Filling, earth and air and sea, 

Oft my feelings homage render 
To the bomidless Deity. 



THE GRANDEUR OF NATURE. 113 

Still, oh still, I'm lone and cheerless, 

Till the reigning God appears j 
Pours His light, and bids me, fearless, 

Triumph in this world of tears. 

Mountain, rainbow, sun and ocean, 

Lose their glory in His blaze ; 
While my soul in deep devotion 

Sinks, enraptured with the gaze. 

5#* 



114 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



The day-star burned high over Mamre's broad plain, 

Flooding city and sea with his rays ; 
While its grand oaken forest subud'd his fierce reign, 

Shading Abraham's tent from their blaze. 

Here the patriarcih mused in his door, o'er the scene, 
While bene violence ruled his great heart. 

As three gentle strangers approached on the green, 
With a message from Heaven to impart. 

The patriarch rose, then in courtesy bowed, 
And welcomed these guests to his home. 



* When on a visit to the city of Baltimore, towards the close of the 
year 18C8, the author was permitted to form the acquaintance of Mr. 
and Mrs. Broadbent, of that city, a noble, generous, and pious pair, 
with no lineal descendants to cheer their board and brighten their 
declining years, but whose open-hearted benevolence and Eastern hos- 
pitality were promptly and warmly extended to the ministerial stran- 
ger, who, shortly after his return to his own loved home in the South , 
penned this grateful tribute to his kind benefactors. Since that time 
Mr. G. Broadbent has been called to his reward. May Heaven's 
blessings attend his surviving consort ! 



A TRIBUTE OF GRA TITUDE, 115 



To offer refreshments and rest he was proud, 
Unconscious that angels had come. 

The fold and the garner were tax'd for their best — 
Eastern luxury crown'd the full board j 

While the heralds angelic admir'd as they bless'd, 
Till in wonder he gazed and adored. 

No angel, my host and my hostess, was there, 
When your halls were thrown wide to your guest, 

A bright " cliild of promise " to pledge as your heir^ 
In return for his comfort and rest. 

'Twas a stranger, earth-born^ whom you cherished 
and cheer'd 
At your princely and generous home ; 
But the patriarch's God, whom that stranger 
rever'd. 
Will reward you in years yet to come. 

And when hoary hairs shall encircle your brows, 
And you 're loaded with honors and years ; 

As he sinks to his rest, he'll remember his vows, 
And embalm your lov^ed mem'ries with tears. 



116 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



The war-god, iu wrath, may have steep'd him in 
woes. 

And Ills home bear the sconrge of his curse ; 
But a warm Southern heart ever gratefully glows, 

Till consiffu'd to the shroud and the hearse.* 



*Tlie war between the States liad then closed, but its sequences 
were bearing lieavily upon tlie author. 



A SOUVENIR OF LOVE. 117 



Wntten hy the author on a valentine sent to his "beloved wife on the 
iUh of February, 1856, and while delivering his fifteenth course 
of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Lectures, in Augusta, Ga. 

A ^^ VALENTINE ! a valentine ! " delighted beauty- 
cries, 

As quick she breaks the ruddy seal, to feast her long- 
ing eyes. 

She gazes on the honeyed lines, and drinks their 
nectar in, 

Then binds the motto to her heart with jewel'd brooch 
and pin. 

Dear wife, expect no burning strains, nor darts, nor 
turtle dove 5 [love. 

'Tis no enraptur'd swain indites this modest meed of 

'Tis manhood's ripest fruit, matur'd by suns of pass- 
ing years. 

Most fragrant in the home that's blest with woman's 
smiles and tears. 



11 a A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Oue score and eight returning years have crown'd 

our nuptial ties, 
And age has left its mild impress, to win us to the 

skies. 
Ten thousand gifts indulgent Heaven has on our 

l^athway i:)Our'd, 
And children stand like olive plants around our 

happy board. 

Then, dearest partner of my youth, companion of my 

age, 
Accept another pledge of love upon this virgin page. 
In sweeter union let us taste the joys so richly giv'n, 
And live in peace and love on earth, to live again in 

heaven. 



THE LADIES' WELCOME, 1 1 J 



A MASONIC ODE. 

Prepared for, and sung by the pupils, before tlio jncmbers of the 
Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Georgia, 
with other members of the fraternity, at the Annual Commence- 
ment of the Southern Masonic Female College, in Covington, Ga.— 
an institution under the patronage of that Grand Body— June 
20, 1871. 

The winds of old winter have fled to their mountains, 
And summer has garnish'd the forests and skies j 

While manhood and beauty have left hills and foun- 
tains, 
To grace this assembly with joy-beaming eyes. 

CHORUS. 

Thrice welcome ! ye sons of the sires of past ages ; 
We bid you thrice welcome to these classic 
halls. 
The noble descendants of savans and sages, 
Your praise shall resound through our time- 
honor'd walls. 

Through three thousand years have your altars been 
burning — 
Their soft, waxen lights beaming steady and clear 



120 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Both iu palace and prison — disloyalty spurning 

YouVe reach'd the grand age when we welcome 
you here. 

Gho, — ^Thrice welcome ! etc. 



Hail ! hail to the Temple on old Mount Moriah I 
Whose builders first rose to the gavel's shrill sound. 

Its glories symbolic proclaimed the Messiah, 

Whose truth has for ages your altar-tops crowned. 

Gho. — ^Thrice welcome ! etc. 



Thus pillared and stately, Strength^Wisdom and Beauty 
Sustain and adorn your blue, star-spangled dome j 

While Faifhj Hope and Love^ in the Ladder of duty. 
All woo to the skies and a heavenly home. 

Gho. — ^Thrice welcome ! etc. 



Then hail, jewel'd Order! fair womarCs protection ; 

Her fast, faithful friend 'mid the dangers of life. 
Her daughters, before you, with love and affection 

Will cherish your memories, as maiden or wife. 

Gho. — ^Thrice welcome ! etc. 



THE LADIES' WELCOME. 121 



Each summer return and make known, through your 
college, 
That Masonry honors the child of her birth j 
And the ^^ Means'' and the ^' Olio,"* twin sisters in 
knowledge, 
Will wreathe you with flowers and sing to your 
worth. 

Gho. — Thrice welcome I eto. 



* The two Literary Societies of the College. 

6 



122 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



W^mm III l^tf ^Sfef ^ ^ii WtiMit in 

In the safety of Almighty keepiug, 

Surrounded by unreliev'd gloom, 
A nebulous universe, sleeping, 

Lay hush'd in eternity's womb. 

But a firmament's birth-time was nearing, 
To swell the bright host on i)arade; 

And a new zone of worlds was appearing— 
For the mandate Divine was obey'd. 

The grand panorama completed, 
Through decades of ages now gone, 

By the anthems of angels was greeted. 
And its sun-lighted glories roll'd on. 

Our young planet-home shone in splendor, 
With its oceans and mountains and plains, 

Wliile its groves rang with symphonies tender. 
Re-echoed in loveliest strains. 



WOMAN' IN PARADISE, 123 

Though rich in the floods from its fountains — 

Unceasingly grand in their flow — 
No MIND was enthroned on its mountains, 

Nor rul'd in its valleys below. 

But lo ! the Eternal descended 

To garnish his new-born domain ; 
For his heaven and earth must be blended, 

And MAN must in majesty reign ! 

The harps of celestials resounded ; 

The monarch illumin'd the scene ; 
The joy of creation abounded, 

And earth wav'd her banners of green. 

How blissful the boon of existence 
Which open'd communion with liglit ! 

No cloud hung in gloom in the distance. 
And seraphs turn'd earthward their flight. 

The soft, purple blush of the morning 
Gave way to the flood- light of noon, 

The mountains and forests adorning. 
Till night claimed the sheen of her moon. 



124 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

The hosts of the firmament round her 
Did homage with banners uufurrd^ 

And in silence revered Him who crown'd her 
Fair queen of a sweet-sleeping world. 

No counterpart yet grac'd creation j 
Man, lofty and lone, walk'd abroad, 

Or knelt in sublime contemplation, 
To adore his invisible God. 

No pulse beat responsive around him ; 

No features reflected his own j 
To none kindred sympathies bound him — 

He stood in his glory alone. 

But Jehovah ne'er wak'd an emotion, 
Nor sprung a high wish in the mind. 

To tantalize love or devotion, 
And fade, to leave curses behind. 

Oh no ! ye bright ranks who adore Him, 
Emblazon'd with irutli as ye burn, 

Else in glorified grandeur before Him, 
The foul imputation to sx)urn ! 



WOMAN IN PARADISE. 125 



But nature, iu beauty reposing, 
Ne'er sounded the deeps of liis soul, 

Till WOMAN, his eyelids unclosing, 
Pour'd ravishing bliss through the whole. 

All radiant with angelic graces, 
She shone in the light of her God 5 

And her internal peace left its traces 
On cheeks ting'd with innocent blood. 

Her beauty and purity blended, 

And, glowiug with Heaven's /r5^ love, 
Woke paeans of praise, which ascended 

To mingle with anthems above. 

* * * # * 

But the universe, blazing with glory, 

Turn'd darlc o'er the first guilty pair 5 
For Lucifer, learning their story. 

Had pour'd death and doom on the air. 

Oh weep, ye unborn generations ! 

And Heaven's rich mercies implore ; 
For a curse follow'd helPs sinuations. 

And the '^garden of bliss" is no more I 



126 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

Thus from Eden, where angels first found her, 

Eve fled from the frown of her God j 
Yet its odors, still clinging around her. 

Made fragrant the path which she trod. 
***** 
Fair exile ! though banish'd and blighted. 

Still the loadstar and light of thy race I 
Eeserv'd, with the Godhead united, 

To open the flood-gates of grace. 

Thy brow wore the impress of Heaven 
Through ages of guilt rolling by, 

When the signal of mercy was given, 
And the " Star in the East" lit the sky ! 

Its bright sister millions surrounded 
And shone upon Bethlehem's plain, 

While the broad empyrean resounded 
With " glory's " exalted refrain. 

Hail ! hail the Messiah, ye nations ! 

The banner of "-^ peace " is unfurPd ; 
And by wondrous, sublime revelations^. 

A VIRGIN gives life to the tvorld ! 
***** 



WOMAN IN CHRISTENDOM. 127 

The Cross held its victim suspended — 
Earth shtidd'riug in dread to the sky j 

And with pangs — every muscle distended — 
The Gob-man was struggling to die 1 

Amazed, overwhelm'd and confounded, 
The petrified thousands stood by j 

But, amid the doom'd throng who surrounded, 
Lov'd Mary and John caught His eye. 

Oh I deathless and boundless affection 
For the mother who kissed Him at birth 1 

In His death-throes he vouch'd Her protection, 
And hallow'd that name* upon earth. 

Thus throned and exalted forever, 

The cross in her bosom enshrin'd, 
Fair woman shall reign ever, ever. 

O'er the hearts and the homes of mankind. 

Then hail ! brightest type of creation ! 

Though once overshadowed by gloom. 
Yet noiVj with a worlds s acclamation, 

Thy Son has brought life from the tomb! 



Mother. 



128 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



OB, 

THE DAHKNESS OP OONYIOTION CONTRASTED WITH 
THE LIGHT OF CONTERSIOK, 

Nature groans when stunning thunder 

Cracks the scowling vault of heaven, 
Eiving mountain crags asunder, 

Down in headlong ruin driven. 
But the storm-cloud's wildest clangor 

Softly dies upon the ear, 
If an injur'd God, in anger, 

Stirs the trembUng sinner^s fear. 

Deeply heaves the wailing ocean, 

Lashed by madd'ning wintry storms ; 
Water-spouts, with whirlwinds' motion, 

Stretching high their specter forms. 
Yet the raging seas are quiet — 

Hush'd to noiseless, dead repose — 
When the i)enitential spirit 

Struggles with its weight of woes. 



GLOOM AND GLORY, 129 



Change the scene I Aurora, coming, 

Heralds in the god of day. 
Hark ! the busy world is humming ; 

Kations rise to greet his sway. 
Yet how dim the sun of heaven, 

When compared to glory's light 
Streaming on a soul forgiven, 

And in raptures at the sight ! 

Gorgeous glows the emerald mountain, 

Bath'd in light of vernal skies, 
Crowning high yon crystal fountain, 

Garnish'd rich in rainbow dyes ; 
Yet how faint an adumbration 

Of the saints' eternal home I 
Hallelujah I God^s creation 

Shadows but the joys to come I 
6* 



laO A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



t%t Jt\^$% %l ^ f tlfn f ^lf| III 



The following stanzas are intended as a feeble tril)nte to the 
memory of a departed friend — Mrs. Amelia A. Andrew — wife 
of the excellent and lamented Bishop James O. Andrew, of 
Georgia, who now rests with his sainted consort in heaven. 
In writing them, the author has but obeyed the promptings of 
his own heart. 

Gifted with a mind of no ordinary caliber, largely developed 
and improved by an extensive acquaintance with human nature, 
Mrs. Andrew was characterized by a high and dignified sense 
of propriety, in all her intercourse with others ; by an unflinch- 
ing firmness and steadiness of purpose in the greatest exigen- 
cies of life ; and above all, by a sound and enlightened ■j^iety, 
which, though at one time severely tested, shed a heavenly lus- 
ter around her dying bed, rarely equaled, and still more rarely 
surpassed. 

She is gone ! She is gone I I behold her now 

On the bosom of love reclining, 
While the cypress and rose on her marble brow 

Are in lovely embrace entwining. 

How fiery and fierce was the battle wag'd, 
As she near'd her approaching heaven ! 

Perdition exhausted its fruitless rage, 
And its last red bolt was driven. 



THE TRIUMPH OF FAITH, 131 

Still heavenward and high as she pitch'd her flight, 

Her infernal foes surrounded, 
Till, scath'd by the blaze of supernal light, 

They cower'd, and fled confounded. 

Then, pois'd on the wing of a lofty faith. 
With the power of prayer around her. 

She smiled, and courted the parting breath 
To sunder the ties that bound her. 

Serenely calm as the land-lock'd bay 
When the far-off storm is sweeping, 

Her waveless soul in the sunlight lay 
Like the smile of an infant sleeping. 

"No tear at my tomb," said the dying saint, 

As her raptur'd soul ascended j 
"Let the song and shout — not a cheerless plaint — 

Be in heavenly triumi)h blended." 

But her hour had come ! 'Twas a hallow'd sight I 

For an angel throng attended j 
And lost in the blaze of immortal light, 

Was her bright career thus ended. 

What a moment was that when her heaven had come, 
And the Godhead's glow surrounded I 



A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



Wlien welcoming millions receiv'd her Lome, 
And eternity's harps resounded ! 

Farewell, then, my sister ! — a long farewell ! — 
Though your form and your words may leave us, 

That afiectionate grasp of your dying hand 
Will never depart — believe us ! * 

All, all shall be well, though a husband sighs, 
And your motherless babes are weeping ; 

You have taught them to trust in the God of the 
skies. 
And they're safe in His heavenly keeping. 

O God ! to the friends of our sister gone, 

Let her conquering grace be given 5 
And then, when the drama of life is done, 

We shall greet her again in heaven. 



* Shortly before her departure, sitting upright in her bed, and hold- 
ing the hand of the writer with an ardent grasp, her face radiant with 
a superabundant revelation from on high, she said : " Doctoi-, I am 
going to leave you ; but yoxi have a long time to live yet." Nearly thirty 
years have since elapsed, and that friend, after so many years of heavy 
intellectual and physical toil, still lives ! grateful to God for his pro- 
tracted life, and for the health, strength, and privilege yet allowed 
him, to proclaim that everlasting gospel which has eternized the bliss 
of Sister Andrew, with millions more, in heaven. 



A FAREWELL SOUVENIR, 133 



% fmtmll ^tnnmlt^ 

Addressed to Mrs. Jane W. Baldwin, the dauglitcr of an old and 
esteemed friend of the autlior, namely, Rev. Thomas Samfokd. 
and presented on the eve of her departure, with her hushand, for 
Louisiana. 

How fitfully varied the stream of life ! 

How strangely capricious it wanders ! 
Ev'ry curve of the current with change is rife, 

Where the good man prays and ponders. 

You are borne on its bosom, my dear young friend, 

Away to the land of strangers j 
May Mercy and Truth their resources blend, 

To succor your soul n dangers. 

Farewell, then, Jane ! may your home be bless'd 
By the smiles of ap; :oving Heaven j 

And your light still shine in the far, far West, 
Till your home in the skies is given. 

And when I am called to my rest above, 
And your children learn the story, 



134 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Oil teach them to cherish my name in love, 
Till we meet in the realms of glory. 

And now farewell to your honor'd sire ! 

No more upon earth I'll meet him ; 
But aloft, in the land of the harp and lyre, 

By the grace of God I'll greet him. 

And when old age shall our strength destroy, 

And mem'ry fails before it, 
"We'll each call the name of his own dear hoy^ 

And remember him who hore it.* 



* The Eev. T. Samford liad a son called after tbe 
author, who gave the name of that venerable man to one 
of Lis own sons* at the baptismal font. 



RIPE FOR HE A VEN, 135 



A TRUE SKETCH FROM THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF 

MISS SALLIE L. MEANS, 
©1)0 3PvfccIess, Safnteti IDauulJtcv of tf)e Stutfjot, 

On December eleventh, eighteen fifty-one, 
When the bleak blasts of winter were fast comhig on, 
A sweet little stranger appeared in our room- 
Its face like a rosebud beginning to bloom. 

A mother's embrace soon encircled her child ; 
She looked on in rapture, and gratefully smiled. 
In its soft flannel wrapper it lay on her breast- 
She kissed its plump cheek, and soon lulled it to rest. 

In its bright, happy smile and its tender blue eyes, 
Like a sunrise in May, under welcoming skies, 
A father beheld his own dear flesh and blood, 
And, bowmg in pray'r, gave his iufant to God. 

That trust — ne^er recalled — was recorded in heaven, 
And her soul in young childhood to Jesus was given. 



136 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

Oh blessed alliance of innocent youth, 
In holier bonds than Naomi's with Ruth. 

While the sweet, lowly violet peeps from the lawn, 
To greet the first sunbeams that i)urple the dawn, 
The dahlia and sunflower, ambitiously bold. 
Display to the noonday their crimson and gold j 

So, in life's early morn, as her knowledge increas'd, 
And the bright Sun of Righteousness rose in the cast, 
As he cleared the horizon she caught his first gleams. 
Content with the fragrance inhaled from his beams. 



"&' 



Like her own/av'n7e flower,* she bloomed in the shade. 
Nor envied the '•' Bon Ton," in splendor arrayed. 
As well feed the famished with diamonds and pearls, 
Or deck fair Minerva with jewels and curls. 

From the smiles of her Saviour no charms could 

allure j 
She reached noble womanhood modest and imre. 
Clear and calm as tTie lake when it sleeps in repose 
Was her innocent breast, where no wild passions rose. 



* Tho violet. 



RIPE FOR HE A VEN. 137 

Joy beamed from her eyes, and Love molded lier 

heart, 
While the Graces combined every gift to impart. 
Her charity, boundless, embraced her whole race j 
It was heaven-born, glowing, and shone in her face. 

Her dear "Orna Villa "* was bright where she moved. 
And her presence was balm to the hearts that she 

lov'd. 
Her song cheered the parlor, and rang through the 

hall, 
And her kind voice of " welcome '' was tendered to all. 

She was born from on high; her affections were 

there J 
And her heart's aspirations found converse in pray'r. 
On the heavens and earth she delighted to gaze. 
And her deep adoration was mellowed to praise. 

Her filial devotion, inspired from above, 
Was profound and intensive, and radiant with love. 
Blest trait of the household ! how sweetly displayed, 
When parents are honored, revered and obeyed I 



* Her father's residence. 
6»# 



138 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

The young clustered round lier in Sunday-school 

hours, 
As rosebuds half-blown, under green, shady bowers ; 
To her bland, soothing voice, charmed attention was 

given. 
As she fondled, caressed them, and woo'd them to 

heaven. 

The white tents of Jacob, how goodly and grand 
They rose on her eye, as they spread o'er the land ! 
But the dearest of scenes on the path which she 

trod. 
Were the carbuncled gates of the Zion of God. 

Its portals stood wide, her approaches to greet, 
And its courts rang with melodies, hallowed and 

sweet. 
This luminous center attracted her soul, 
For there the Shekinakshed light through the whole. 

But adieu, holy hour, never more to return! 

Bright visions now gone ! and in sackcloth we 

mourn. 
Though her spirifs in heaven, her dusfs in the tomb. 
And the home of her childhood is mantled in gloom. 



RIPE FOR HE A VEN. 139 

Thus lustrous with virtues, and buoyant and blest, 
Her life glided smoothly, and all was at rest 5 
Till a dark, lurid cloud uj) her sky seemed to creep. 
And a deluging cyclone whelmed all in the deep. 

But light shone around her as danger drew nigh, 
And, embraced by her Saviour, she feared not to die. 
'^AlVs right P^ was her watchword, with dying lips 

given, 
And an angelic escort convoyed her to heaven. 

Like the crystaline snow-flake, the child of the skies, 
That descends pure and spotless, to ravish all eyes ; 
But warmed by the sunbeams, and winged for its 

flight, 
It heavenward soars, and is lost to the sight. 

Farewell, thou sweet phantom of purest delight ! 
Evanescent and faded, yet " all^ all is right ! " 
But in regions of bliss, God of love, let us meet, 
In the noontide of glory our sainted to greet I 



140 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



% pmiit f Iff flui 

TO THE MEMORY OF MRS. MARTHA ELIZABETH McINTOSH, 
(FORMERLY GRIGGS), OF MICANOPY, EAST FIX)RIDA. 

Another life-struggle is ended, 

And victory rings on the air ; 
Another bright spirit's ascended, 

'Mid tear-drops, and praises, and prayer. 

Her wing, when the death-knell resounded, 
Was si)read for her heavenly flight j 

Invisible angels surrounded. 
And rob'd her in vestments of light. 

In the home of her childhood she listened 

To whispers of peace from above ; 
They told in the i)earl-droi)s that glisten'd 

In eyes beaming kindness and love. 

Transported with raiDtures supernal, 
She long'd for her rest in the sky ; 

And tendered a farewell eternal 
To pleasures that bloom but to die. 



A POETIC OFFERING. 141 

Soon her maideuly graces and beauty 
Threw charms o'er a thrice happy home ; 

And our bride vied in conjugal duty 
With the lovely Lucretia of Kome. 

A rosebud of ravishing sweetness 

Now hung from the green parent stock, 

When the storm came with hurricane fleetness, 
And bore off the gem by its shock. 

But as sunshine succeeded to shower, 

O'er dear Ella's motionless form, 
Three plants freshly bloom'd in the bower 

But recently drench'd with the storm. 

The dove o'er the deluge was flying ; 

The Ark was at rest upon high j 
The floods in their basins were lying, 

And happiness beam'd from her sky. 

Install'd as a wife and a mother, 
Iler home was a temple for i^rayer, 

A prototype fair of another j 
Unclouded by sorrow or care. 



142 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

The glorious Volume of Ages 

Was throu'd on tbe heights of her soul, 
And reign'd, through its life-giving pages, 

With blissful and boundless control. 

No godless assemblage e'er found her 
Polluting her heaven-born caste j 

While Infancy nestled around her, 
And Poverty smiled as she i)assed. 

But alas ! when the day-king's descendiug- 
Ilis mantle all jewel'd with light — 

And the tints of the rainbow are blending. 
It is but the prelude of night. 

So, too, the convolvulus, blooming 

In rosy luxuriance at morn, 
Soon droops, by the noon-heat consuming 

The beauties with which it was born. 

While the sun-beaten flocks are reclining, 
And rivers dry up o'er the plain, 

It sleeps till the dew-drops are shining, 
Then blushes with morning again. 



A POETIC OFFERING. 143 

Thus faded our dear, sainted sister — 
Full blown — in her womanly prime, 

But sank, as her little ones kiss'd her, 
To bloom in a loveher clime. 



144 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



A PERORATION TO AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
$. A. 0.* SOCIETY, NOVEMBER 21, 1873. 

Then hail ! ye old halls, in whose sylvan retreat 
The young of the land all in harmony meet ! 
A college of Christians, where God is enthroned. 
And ^' free love " and folly are scorn'd and disown VI. 

These nurselings that chng to thy bosom to-night. 
And imbibe from thy paps intellectual might, 
Will, in forthcoming years, when enlaurePd by Fame, 
Their old " Alma Mater" with plaudits proclaim. 

Dear Oxford ! thy shady recesses invite 

To build up the soul and to crown it with light. 

From thy pure, hallow'd homes, ^nilgar vices are 

driven. 
And woman, sweet woman 1 allures us to heaven. 



**f Am Ae/cr^ 0£o, " FriendsMp is pleasing to God." 



APOSTROPHE TO AN ALBUM, 145 



DEDICATED ON THE WEDDING-NIGHT. 

Lovely page ! thou long hast slumbered, 

Robed in stainless virgin white. 
Other scrolls their days have numbered j 

Life begins with thee to-night ! 

Bridal love has sought and found thee, 
BrilUant type of woman's grace ! 

Vestal lamps are blazing round thee, 
Joy illumes each shining face. 

Long, oh long, sweet Album! cherish, 
Bright with smiles or moist with tears, 

Thoughts and names which ne'er shall perish, 
'Mid the tide of rolling years. 

Bid the beauteous bride remember, 

When all mem'ries else decline, 
One bright eve — the eighth N'ovemher^ 

Eighteen hundred forty-nine ! 

7 



14G A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Brief, at best, the trust assigu'd thee — 
Bearing gems from saiut or sage ; 

Future search shall fail to find thee — 
Lost amid the wastes of age. 

But wheu all thy heart-born treasures 

Shine no more to living eyes, 
Those who scann'd thy sheets with pleasure, 

Still shall live when nature dks. 



THE SILENT POWER OF WOMAN. 147 



ADDRESSED TO MISS LEILA OGILBY, OF MADISON, GA. 

There is power in the dew-drop that sleeps on the 
plain, 
When, rous'd by Aurora, it mounts to the sky ; 
For, stimn'd by its thunders and drench'd by its 
rain, 
Earth groans from her caves as the tempest rolls 
by. 

So soft, gentle woman^ the heart's purest joy, 
Excites men and nations to emprize and war. 

One beautiful Helen fires Athens and Troy, 
And hosts bleed in battle, led on by her star. 

There is power in the sunbeam that steals from the 
skies, 

And floods sea and mountain, unconscious of toil ; 
Awak'd by its dawnings, the world's millions rise, 

And store in their garners the wealth of the soil. 



148 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



Thus noiseless, diffusive and brilliant she shines, 
Whose smiles bless the nations her presence il- 
lumes 5 
Exalts human nature, rude manhood refines, 
Gives statesmen their laurels, and heroes their 
plumes. 

There is power in the zephyr that lulls us to sleep, 
When it moves in the whirl of the cyclone at sea ; 

Then marshals its thunders, and, ruling the deep, 
Whole navies are pow'rless to fight or to flee. 

O woman, dear woman ! the dew of the soul, 
The light of the homestead, the breath of old age! 

Thy sanctified nature the world shall control. 
For thy kiss on the infant gives fame to the sage. 

Then, Leila, sweet girl, for an empire prepare, 
Whose scepter is lovc.^ and whose legions are smiles; 

Thy subjects all heroes, who honor the fair ; 
Thy realms a bright domain^ unmeasured by miles. 



A GLACIER IN THE HEART. 140 



% %\mktt In %t He^tl; 

OR, 

PHLEGMATIC BEAUTY ETHEREALIZED BY GRACE. 

[The Aurora Borealis is supposed to bo the result of electric 
emanations from tlio immense fields of ice wbicli cover the po- 
lar seas — passing off in brilliant coruscations of diversified hues 
towards the zenith, becoming less and less distinct, until lost in 
the higher and rarer regions of the atmosphere. Although more 
frequently witnessed in high northern latitudes, yet within the 
last half century several of these magnificent pageants have 
adorned our southern skies.] 

How rich and soft yon crimson glow 

That tints the Arctic skies ! 
While bleak and wide, outstretch\l below, 

An icy ocean lies. 

Tis but the transient flush of light 

The polar iceberg flings 5 
Yet crowds admire the lovely sight, 

Unthinking whence it springs. 



150 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Fit emblem of the roseate tide 
That flushes beauty's veins ; 

While o'er the affections^ far aud wide, 
Eternal winter reigns. 

The eye may flash with intellect, 
The cheek mock painter's art ; 

Yet Heaven^s transpiercing gaze detect 
A glacier in the heart. 

But oh I when fervent grace is felt^ 
Transcendent beauties rise ; 

Affection's gelid waters melt, 
And rainbows span the skies. 

Love hallows all the sacred scene, 
And woman dwells in light 5 

Her eye, her smile, her life's serene, 
And angels hail the sight. 

As glowing tints far west appear, 
When twilight shades begin. 

Thus, soft and beautiful and clear. 
Her evening skies shut in. 



THE CUPBOARD. 151 



% iff w^ii 



The following rustic verses were composed by the author in liis 
private moments, to commemorate an epoch in his domestic 
life, connected with many associations which gave rise to 
some tender reminiscences of other days. The metrical ar- 
rangement was suggested by that popular old ballad, " The Old 
Oaken Bucket that Hung in the Well." 



Ye muses immortal, your song-tribute bring ! 
What muse for dear Oxford would scruple to sing ? 
Fair Erato, come, with thy roses and lyre, 
For plaintive contralto our genius inspire. 
Though humble the theme, hear a devotee's call, 
To sing the old cupboard that stands by the wall. 

The nice, cozy cupboard — the genial old cupboard — 
The life-giving cupboard that stands by the wall. 

Come, wing our conceptions and roll up the past 
As thistle-down flies on the breath of the blast. 
Bid Story present us, in picturesque forms, 
The scenes of the hamlet — ^its calms and its storms j 



152 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

And in clustering conclave its subjects install 
Kound the lionor'd old cupboard that stands by the 

wall. 
The hoary old cupboard — the peerless old cup 

board — 
The grandmother's cupboard that stands by the wall. 



We sing, then, a husband and blooming young wife, 
Just fresh from the altar, launched out upon life. 
i^o luxuries crown'd their pretensionless home j 
With peace round their hearthstone they longed not 

to roam. 
But time brought a nurseling to chirrup and crawl, 
With a moutMovilLQ cui)board that stood by the wall. 
Then a sweet little cupboard — a bright, shining 

cupboard — 
A dear, darling cupboard, that stood by the wall. 

With calm resignation they met woe or weal — 

The man at his pill-box, the wife at her wheel. 

Contented and cheerful, they hopefully toiPd ; 

No vaulting ambition their heritage spoil'd. 

Full rich with the wealth of their snug cottage hall, 

And the well-plenished cupboard that stood by the wall. 



THE CUPBOARD, 153 

A tidy young cupboard — a fuU-bosom'd cupboard — 
The cream-flowing cupboard that stood by the wall. 

Thus years roll'd away, and more prattlers appeared, 
All piously taught and all pray'rfully rear^l. 
With filial affection they kiss'd the kind hand 
That molded their souls to the great and the grand ; 
While, loaded with comforts and cheer for them all, 
Was the temi3ting old cupboard that stood by the 
wall. 
The oft-courted cupboard — the i3lentiful cupboard — 
The luscious old cupboard that stood by the wall. 

But industry i)rosper'd, and rosewood was seen. 
With rich broider'd damask of crimson and green j 
While music swell'd high through the carpeted room. 
Evolved by the'touch of young beauty in bloom. 
But always the same — fiir removed from them all — 
Was the voiceless old cupboard that stood by the wall. 
The canny old cupboard — the closeted cupboard — 
The old-fashioned cupboard that stood by the wall. 

But oh ! when the household had circled the board, 
And a sanctioning blessing from Heaven imx)lor^d 5 

7* 



154 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

Wlien babyhood hungered^ or fretted, or cried, 
These claims reacli'd W\q, pantry^ and all were supplied. 
Fast friend to the needy, and waiting their call, 
Was the princely old cupboard that stood by the wall. 
That kindly old cupboard — the food-laden cup- 
board — 
The bounteous old cupboard that stood by the wall. 

When war spread its havoc and blasted the land. 
And famine, gaunt famine, with blade and with brand 
Filled graves by the thousand, where armies had 

striven, 
And sent burning homes in red cinders to heav'n ; 
Still hoarding its stores for its mistress's call, 
How priceless that cupboard that stood by the wall. 
The cheerful old cupboard — the teeming old cup- 
board — 
The provender cupboard that stood by the wall. 

Its finger- worn button, yet faithful and true, 

Still guards all its treasures, and hides them from 

view 5 
It holds in its bosom, delf, porc'lain and plate, 
And honors the landlady early and late. 
When appetite clamors and threatens a brawl, 



THE CUPBOARD, 155 



'Tis hushVl by the cupboard that stands by the waU. 
The gentle old cupboard — the soothmg old cup- 
board — 
The peace-makmg cupboard that stands by the wall. 

I^ow forty-four winters have whiten'd their locks, 
They shine in the sunbeams like snow on the rocks 5 
Their children and grandchildren make the house ring 
With laughter and noise, as they frolic and sing. 
Thenquitting their sports, upon <•'• grandma " they call, 
And rush to the cupboard that stands by the wall. 
The tireless old cupboard — the patient old cup- 
board — 
The fast-waning cupboard that stands by the wall. 

Quaint steward of the household, weVe long liv^d 

together. 
And breasted the onsets of wind and of weather j 
But, soulless and silent, thou sheddest no tears, 
Though husband and wife are now bending with 

years. 
Yet, till they're consigned to the hearse and the pall, 
They'll bless the old cupboard that stands by the wall. 
The dingy old cupboard— the crazy old cupboard— 
The age-furrowed cupboard that stands by the wall. 



156 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Thou Shalt linger awhile with their o£fsi)ring to dwell 5 
Bat oh ! Avhere's the seer that shall dare to foretell 
When thy moth-eaten j)anels shall rot in the mire, 
Or thy splintered remains shall be food for the fire % 
Yet children unborn shall thy memory recall, 
And mourn the old cupboard that stood by the wall. 
The little pine cupboard — the cherish'd old cup- 
board — 
The time-honor'd cui)board that stood by the wall. 

Farewell, then, companion and friend of our youth ! 
Thou faithful exponent of goodness and truth ! 
Soon, soon we'll be destined forever to part — 
A long separation of cux^board and heart. 
But to Sallie, "our Sallie," with its treasures and all, 
We leave the old cupboard that stands by the wall. 
Our Sallie's own cupboard— the long belov'd cup- 
board — 
Her another's old cupboard that stands by the wall.* 



* Tlicir beloved daughter, Sallie Leonora, the intended heiress 
of this treasured relic, " the old cupboard," was called to her rest 
before her father or mother. 



FAREWELL AND GREETING. 157 



OR, 

THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW — 1865 and 1866. 

Our Internecino War Having Closed in 1865. 

'Tis the silence of midiiiglit ! The year's at its goal, 

111 the star-lighted arch of the sky j 
And a hemisphere sleeps, from equator to pole, 

As the wave-tide of ages rolls by. 

While the earth is in dreams and the heavens are 
at rest, 

And creation moves on as of yore, 
Eternity's offspring falls back on her breast, 

And the year Sixty-five IS NO MOKE 1 

As a bubble, afloat on a sunlit wave. 
Shines a moment in purple and green, 

Then breaks on the brow of its ocean grave, 
And is lost in the boundless scene ; 



158 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

So its fleet golden hours have but flashed and fled 

O'er the wastes of the ages past ; 
Not an obelisk marks their oblivious bed^ — 

Not a stone where they breath'd their last. 

Yet the deeds of men, with their smiles and tears, 

In eternal, changeless light, 
Shall burn o'er the tombs of departed years, 

When the sun is quench'd in night. 

Oh the scenes ! the scenes that have met the eye. 

In the rush of the rolling year, 
To be canvass'd again, when a God draws nigh. 

And the judgment thrones ai^pear ! 

For alas ! there are regions of damning crime. 

That send up their stench on high, 
Provoking the bolts of the wrath sublime 

On the guilt of the year gone hy- 

There lust and mammon their curses pour 
Upon heads and hearts and homes ; 

While murder and perjury reek with gore. 
And tremble till vengeance comes. 



FAREWELL AND GREETING. 159 



Yet the beauty of Virtue aud charms of Grace 

Bring tlie angel of mercy near, 
While Eeligion and Science, in holy embrace, 

Start afresh on their bright career. 

But a birth ! a birth from the womb of night ! 

Lo, an heir of the old year's born !* 
And the welcoming heavens, all rob'd in white, 

Shall herald the news to the morn. 

Old Arcturus smiles from his azure throne, 

And pledges a peaceful reign j 
And Orion, begirt with his starry zone. 

Leads on in the royal train. 

O'er a waking world, at the opening day. 
Loud shouts from the million ring 5 

As the day -god rolls on his cloudless way, 
And the birds of song take wing. 

Young Hope sits thron'd on the brow of youth. 
And kindles its sparkling eye 5 



* At midniglit. 



160 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

And Piety girdles her loins with truth, 
To strike for her crown on high. 

E^en the widow is fliish'd with a transient joy, 
By the blaze of her warm hearthstone, 

As she hugs to her bosom her orphan'd boy. 
Nor would forfeit his love for a throne. 

Now the world's busy thousands to new toils sirring. 

With a bounding, conquering zeal, 
While cities resound with the whirl and ring 

Of the spindle, the hammer, and wheel. 

Then why should our Zion dei)lore the past, 

Or boast of her triumphs won % 
Let her warn the world with a trumpet blast, 

And sliout when her work is done! 

The nations are rous'd to the claims of God — 

All Christendom lends her aid ; 
The harvests are white, and the fields now nod 

To the stroke of the reaper's blade. 

The smoke and the storm that with thunder-tone, 
Overs wept our battalions slain, 



FAREWELL AND GREETING, 161 

Are the clouds and darkness that shroud His throne, 
But to blazon His wider reign. 

Though a continent rock under bursting bombs, 

And millions of missiles fly, 
As legions, led on by the roll of drums, 

Are hurrying on to die, 

Still glory's ahead of this dark campaign, 

And Emmanuel's empire's nigh j 
For a grander nation shall grace His train, 

And shine in the bright'ning sky. 

When the sun shall have near'd the burning line, 

To light up the earth and heaven, 
The war-god's spear shall have ceased to shine 

On the fields where the brave have striven. 

Ere the peach shall have blush'd in an August sun, 

Or the vintage have grac'd the vine, 
Our Union shall tow'r over Goth and Hun, 

Like a giant refresh'd with wine. 

Then away, away on this bright Kcv!) Year^ 
With the shout and the song of love ! 



162 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

Fill the courts of God with the boundless cheer, 
Till it blends with the hymns above I 

And oh! when December's last lone star 
Shall have pal'd in the light of the morn, 

May the new-crown) d Year^ from his blazing tlironC; 
Shed a splendor on hosts unborn I 



THE WIFE AND MOTHER. 163 



f |t f rlmiiiliiiif Wife iiiii Sltf|t^* 

Dedicated to the memory of MRS. Callie L. Smith, consort of 
Eev. L. M. Smith, D. D., President of the Southern Uni- 
versity, Greensborough, Ala. 

There is death in the air, and there's gloom in the 

heart, 
When husband and consort are destin'd to part ; 
When loveUness lies on the verge of the grave, 
A household in tears, and no power to save. 

But, dear Reverend Brother, standfast, and rehj ! 
There is peace in her heart, and there's heav'n in her 

eye. 
Her wings are outspread — she must leave thee alone : 
A few panting breaths, and the angel is gone I 



There's rejoicing above, in the realms of the blest. 
As their millions look out for the new wedding-guest ; 
For glory awaits her. Mount Zion's in sight. 
And her wide, golden gateway is flooded with light. 

She stands on its threshold — then flies to embrace 
Her glorified Lord, who has sav'd her by grace — 



164 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Then rises to visions and raptures untold, 
As eternity's glories begin to unfold. 

Farewell, tlien, dear Oallie ! now sainted and seal'd, 
For the heav'n of thy faith is in splendor reveal'd ; 
We must weep o'er thy dust, and lament for our loss, 
But shall trust for re-union through Christ and His 
cross. 

The bedroom is empty, the parlor's in gloom, 

But thy virtues have left there a long, rich i)erfurae. 

A motlicr's sweet voice, and the smile of a lo'ife^ 

Thy children and husband shall cherish through life. 



Community mourns o'er the breach in its ranks, 
And the churches unite in hosannas and thanks, 
That God fills the chamber whence saints take their 

flight, 
With faith, love and joy, as they're borne from our 

sight. 



Hail, hail, then, the scene that advancingly looms. 
Where the 'Mov'd and the lost" are new-born from 
their tombs j 



THE WIFE AND MOTHER. Wo 



Where the Lord's ransom'd hosts roll their songs 

through the skies, 
And the Great EvERLASTiNa pours bUss from His 

eyes ! 

Kapt myriads stand round the '-'- Ancient of Days^^ 
And the universe rings with their anthems of praise. 
How boundless the pageant ! how endless the strain, 
When the Lord op Kedemption is scepter'd to 
reign ! 

Oh bear us aloft, blessed Spirit of Love, 

Through the gloom of the grave to our mansions 

above, 
Where the saints of all ages, the purchase of blood, 
Shall welcome us home to the bosom of God. 



166 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



ft tn IflnieMiif Miifefet^^^ Wilt* 

Oh wliy dost thou lodge in the house of the stranger? 

And why far remov'd from thy innocent joys % 
Oh why dost thou roam over regions of danger, 

Where fell marsh miasma its thousands destroys % 

Forgive, oh forgive me ! no longer I wonder ; 

I see in tliy husband a herald of God, 
From Zion proclaiming, in language of thunder. 

The curse and the cure through Immanuel's blood. 

Go, go then, my sister, and warmest affections 
Shall welcome thee on in thy mission of love ; 

Go comfort and cheer him, and share that protection 
So solemnly pledg'd from thy Father above. 

Thus harmless the changes of life shall roll round 
thee, 

So long as thou lovest like beautiful Euth ; 
Not the fearful alarum of death shall confound thee. 

For peace crowns the faithful that die for the truth. 



AN INFANT 'S FLIGHT, 167 



an liitnf ^ f lliff ft ie^^tii, 

CHILD OF HON. T. M. and MRS. ANNA NORWOOD, OF 
SAVANNAH, GA. 

Go, sweet s^mit, iufant stranger, 
Join the cherub throng on high ; 

Fly this world of doubt and danger — 
From its tears and terrors fly. 

Angel forms approach to meet thee ; 

Soft they kiss thy life away j 
Heaven's redeem'd in rapture greet thee 

Welcome to eternal day. 

Doting mother, cheerless bending 
O'er that blasted, breathless frame, 

Upward gaze— thy babe's ascending ! 
All that's left the grave may claim. 

Faith recalls the melting story 

Of the Son's vicarious blood ; 
Points to chariots bound for glory, 

Lights dear <' Manson'^ home to God. 



1G8 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



ADDRESSED TO MISS ISABELLA HAYES, NOW MRS. S. THOMAS, 
ATHENS, GEORGIA.* 

Oh say, dost thou see, o'er the dark purple wing 
Of the far-distant storm-cloud, the rainbow of peace ] 

As, gorgeously rob'd in the sunlight of spring, 
It smiles on the world till the show'r-drops cease ? 

Brighter far, Isabella, the radiance that beams 

From the soft soul of beauty, illmnhlfrom on high. 

With a luster undying, its mellow light streams 
O'er the storm-beaten pathway that leads to the sky. 

No gloom shrouds its splendor, no years dim its rays, 
Life's toils and misfortunes are lost in its blaze j 

It burns high and holy, through death's angry flood, 
Then shines on forever with angels and God. 

Great Sun of the universe ! Light of the spheres ! 

Grand luminous center of matter and mind ! 
Thus lovely and pure, when Messiah appears. 

May my friend of the Album her paradise find ! 



♦Written in Misa H.'s Album. 



BALMY MA Y. 



^Tis an hour of sweetness in balmy May, 
When swallows are out on the wing ; 

They twitter in joy as they skim away, 
To welcome the opening spring. 

The jay-bird, clad in her tunic of blue, 
Pipes clear on the passing breeze ; 

In his crimson robe flaunts the red-bird too, 
As he sings to the listening trees. 

The leaping lambkins, in sportive mood, 

Are curveting round their dam, 
Or daintily cropiDing their verdant food 

By the side of the lordly ram. 

From the dimpling stream, in its winding flow, 
Where the sauntering herd now graze, 

The silvery i)erch, from their beds below, 
Leap up to their Maker's praise. 

The mellowing showers from genial skies 
Have freshen'd the lawn and field ; 

The landscape blooms in a thousand dyes, 
And foretokens the harvest yield. 
8 



170 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

All nature's alive with the thrill and flush 

Of a new-born, bounding life j 
Sweet strains from her grand orchestra gush, 

And the tumult of joy is rife, 

The earth, with its blendings of light and shade, 
Now glows with the smile of God, 

Adumbrating scenes of a nobler grade, 
In the fields beyond the flood. 

ISurely heaven has more than earth can boast, 

For our longing, bounding souls ! 
For Nature, with all her starry host, 

No wounded heart consoles. 

O Mighty Creator ! these gifts of grace- 
Mere drops of exhaustless love — 

Are shower'd abroad on a thankless race, 
To win them to thrones above ! 

Oh yes ! there are glories beyond this goal. 

Surcharged with the love of God ! 
Then soar on the wings of faith, my soul ; 

They are thine, through atoning blood 1 



THE SEAR LEAF. 171 



f |e 3-tm trt^ 

DEDICATED TO THE HON. JOHN P. KING, OP AUGUSTA, GA. 

Dear generous friend of tlae auld lang syne, 

Our decades are hast'ning away ; 
But the joys of the past, still lingering, shine 

Like the sun at the close of day. 

The burden and heat of tho day we've borne, 

And have tasted its weal and woe 5 
We have learnt from tho past to rejoice and mourn, 

And to ponder the path we go. 

But each has been blest round his own hearthstone 

By a wife's and a mother's smile ; 
Oh, what earthly gift from the Father's throne 

Can so sweetly the heart beguile ! 

As the ivy cUngs to the old church- wall, 

And encircles its tottering tow'r ; 
Or mantles with verdure the antique hall, 

To grace it in sunshine or show'r ; 



172 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Thus filial affections, as mauliood fades, 
To the ancestral homestead cling ; 

They delight to repose in its evergreen shades, 
And to cherish the meni'ries they spring. 

Onr names must live in the age to come, 
When the father is lost in the son^ 

And the dutiful heir of the lonely home 
Shall illustrate the sire that's gone. 



Thus the grand panorama of life moves on, 
But on earth there are boons from heaven ; 

And when virtue and truth have the victory won, 
There's a crown to the conqueror given. 

There are triumphs to win in the empire of thought- 
In the boundless domains of the soul — 

Unsounded by trumpet, by gold unbought, 
And untrac'd upon tablet or scroll. 

Let these stir ambition to strike for the skies, 

To conquer corruption and sin ; 
And Faith, Hope and Love shall in glory arise, 

And light up the temple within. 



THE SEAR LEAF. 173 

Mont Blanc looks down from his throne of rocks, 

With his diadem wreath'd of snows j 
On his sides, deep cleft by convnlsive shocks, 

There the "Eose of the Alps" still blows. 

Thus heaven-born greatness sublimely looms 

Over passions that bluster below 5 
Though disasters may blight, moral loveliness blooms^ 

And the flowers of Paradise grow. 

Then roll, ye fleet years, to eternity's verge I 

But oh, bear us on to our rest 5 
And then, at life's close, let the funeral dirge 

Be exchanged for the songs of the blest ! 



174 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



FOR MRS. M. S. KING, 

THE AMIABLE CONSORT OP HON. JOHN P. KING, OF AUGUSTA, GA. 

Oh, wlio can stay the rolling spheres, 

Or lock Aijollo's wheel % 
Who, who arrest the flight of years, 

Or future life reveal % 

Dear honor'd friend of other days. 

My heart could but rejoice 
When first I learnt to love and praise 

Your noble Imsband^s choice. 

A lovely bride you stood confess'd. 

In beauty's flush and glow j 
No griefs to rend your tranquil breast. 

Some thirty years ago. ^ 

The world was fresh, and friends caress'd. 
While wealth and pleasure pour'd 



FRIENDSHIP'S MEMORIAL. 175 



Their ample stores to make you bless'd, 
And crown your clieerful board. 

But oh ! the fell destroyer's blade 

Has ravag'd unrestrain'd j 
The cypress casts its deadly shade 

Where light and pleasure reign'd I 

How many bounding, joyous souls. 

That grac'd your parlor floor, 
Have reach'd their dreamless, silent goals. 

To smile and bless no more ! 

The writer, then in manhood's prime, 

With clear and cloudless eye 
Look'd out on hfe, while hope sublime 

With rainbows spanned his sky. 



But why recall " the lov'd and lost," 
The pains and sorrows past % 

Why wail our land by tempests tossed. 
To swell the vengeful blast % 

Stni, life is ours, and nature smiles ; 
Her seas and mountains stand j 



176 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Her peaceful rule the heart beguiles, 
And gladdcus ev'ry land. 

But higher still, in light enthroned, 

The reigning King appears ; 
The Godhead has for guilt aton'd, 

And mercy calms our fears. 

Old age is nurs'd with heav'nly care, 
Gray hairs with glory crown'd j 

Angels the dying couch i:)repare, 
And viewless hosts surround. 

The good and pure shall ever find 

New bliss for joys entomb'd ; 
A hallo w'd peace to soothe the mind, 

And light where darkness gloom'd. 

Then, honor'd friend, though childhood^s past, 

Our youthful luster fled. 
And setting day is hast'ning fast, 

There's sunrise just ahead ! 

May gracious Heaven unfold the day 

To all our raptur'd eyes, 
And bear us, with our friends, away 

To bliss beyond the skies ! 



THE GOLDEN- GIRDLE, 177 



^|e €tfif » #ltili^ 



The girdle is an indispeusablo appendage to tlie dress of an orien- 
tal, and is employed to tuck up and secure the long flowing vestments 
worn in the East; thus affording greater freedom of locomotion, and 
at tlie same time bracing and supporting the waist, the weakest por- 
tion of the body, where the spinal column stands alone, without 
the auxiliary aid of any surrounding bony structure. This girdle, 
among persons of rank, is, even at the present day, made of the most 
costly fabrics, luxuriously ornamented with the precious metals 
and garnished with brilliant dyes. The symbolic representation of 
the " Sou of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt 
about the iiaps with a golden girdle," as detailed in the glowing Ian. 
guage of the Apocalypse, was probably anti-typical of the costume 
of the Jewish high priest, and emblematical of regal as well as of sacer- 
dotal dignity. The golden girdle worn by that consecrated function- 
ary was connected and probably woven with the ephod ; the latter 
ornament consisting of " gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and 
fine twined linen," and richly embroidered; while the girdle was 
wound in graceful folds twice round the body, crossing the pectoral 
or breastplate in front ; and at this point of interjimction were insert- 
ed twelve precious stones, upon each of which was engraved the name 
of one of the tribes of Israel. As St. John the Evangelist has declar- 
ed that the saints are " made kings and priests unto God," the poetical 
appropriation which we have made of the " golden girdle," in the 
few stanzas which follow, may not, we trust, be regarded as alien to 
the divine authority. 

8* 



178 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



In this dark world, which bears the frown of God — 
Where nature heaves beneath His blasting curse, 

Where sin has pour'd its desolating flood, 
And whirls its victims on to ills far worse — 



Still there's a hope, that paints the Christian's sky, 
And sheds its luster on his trusting soul ; 

Still there's a/cw7A, that lifts its gaze on high, 
And stands uumov'd where rifting thunders roll. 

Still there's a tie — a priceless, goklen tie — 
That binds i)ure spirits to th' eternal throne. 

We foil hell's cunning, and its strength defy, 
When holy love encircles with its zone. 

Then let the sickly world disgorge its hate, 
And languid friendship freeze upon the lip. 

Let beggar'd virtue quit the halls of state, 
And bloated vice her poison'd chalice sip 5 

Let time's resistless waves still murmur on. 
And whelm their millions under tides of years ; 

Let earth, convuls'd with torture, reel and groan, 
And vent her throes in hot volcanic tears. 



THE GOLDEN GIRDLE, 179 

Let lurid lightnings rend the vault of heaven, 
And howling tempests scourge the trembling world j 

Mad oceans lash the clouds, by thunders riven, 
And stone-girt mountains from their seats be hurl'd. 

Let nature's death-knell ring in GabriePs blast, 
And startled millions leap from sod and sea ; 

Wild floods of flame engulf the globe at last. 
And shi'ieking ghosts in vain red vengeance flee. 

'Midst these astounding scenes, where courage dies. 
Where none's secure but he whom God defends. 

This golden cincture's known throughout the skies. 
And brings that succor which the Godliead lends. 

Loud hallelujahs leave my bounding heart. 
And sound the triumphs of redeeming blood ; 

He that would harm me, hence, with hellish dart 
Must rend the girdle^ or dethrone a God I 



180 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



TO VICTORIA A. MEANS, SECOND DAUGHTER OF THE 
AUTHOR. 

Written when from home, on St. Valentine* 8 Day. 

Will my daughter, in years yet to come, 
On this valentine wistfully gaze ? 

Eemember her sweet Oxford home, 
And the scenes of her happy young days ? 

And when her gay childhood is o'er, 
And she blooms in the ripeness of age, 

Let a time-honorVl/a^Aer once more 
Bless his child, from this beautiful page I 



A MADRIGAL. 181 



TO HIS OLD FEIEND, DR. H. GAITHER, 

OP OXFORD, GA., 

On nis Presentation of a Magnificent Peach to the Adthoti. 

Thanks, thanks for the gift of your <^ Nonpareil" 
peach, 

So large and so luscious, so soft and so rare ; 
Were Hesperian gardens at all within reach, 

I^d shrewdly suspect you a favorite there. 

Who'd growl at his fortunes, or envy renown. 
As its exquisite nectar outvied the^rs^ kiss ? 

What lady would ruffle her brow by a frown. 
While her palate was sated with sweetness lilce this ? 

But richer by far, in the gardens on high, 
Hang the rich, golden clusters the world under- 
rates 5 

A feast for the soul^ and a feast for the eye^ 
Of the millions who enter its gem studded gates. 



182 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



LINES WRITTEN IN A NEW ALBUM, 

Presented by the AutJior to Miss Elizabetu Luckie, of Covington, Ga. 

Those sweet, simple accents which first charm'd my 

ear 
In the hours of your childhood, 1 still seem to hear ; 
But the laughing blue eyes and the soft flaxen hair 
Of the light-hearted Lizzie, oh, where are they? — 

where ? 

Does my vision deceive ? Sure I trace in that face, 
In that mild azure eye, and that Avomanly grace, 
Her I rock'd on my knee, in her own happy room. 
In her father's full strength and her mother's full 
bloom. 

And when toe shall close our returnless career, 
And that sweet smile of love be exchang'd for a tear. 
Then remember, dear girl, to the faithful 'tis given, 
That their lost friends on earth shall rejoin them in 
heaven. 



GIRLHOOD, 183 

And as years roll away, and the lov^d ones you knew 
Gently pass to the skies^ like the bright morning- dew, 
Kindly glance at this page in the still hour of pray'r, 
For ii friend of your childhood shall meet with you 
there. 



184 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



(Verses 2, 12, 13, and 14.) 

How beautiful Mount Ziou stands, 

Confronting Northern skies; 
Her sacred heights the world commands, 

And fills the nations' eyes. 

On old Moriah's sunlit wing 

Her glorious temple shines ; 
There God, within, her reigning King, 

Unfolds His great designs. 

Oh, walk about her spacious courts, 

Go round her tower'd walls ! 
Eternal rock their strength supports, 

And grandeur fills her halls. 

Mark well her bulwarks' massive size, 

And fix your thoughtful eye 
Upon her palaces, that rise 

In splendor to the sky. 



A POETIC PARAPHRASE, 185 

Let babes be told of Zion^s fame, 

Let age its off 'riugs bring, 
That childreu's cliildreu may proclaim 

Her everlasting King. 



The God who crowns her hills with light 

Is ours forever more j 
Till death He'll guide our feet aright, 

And teach our souls t' adore. 

8** 



186 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



Lines suggested on witnessing the morally sublime scene exhibited in 
the triiimphant death of Mr. Maximilian W. Kendall, a student 
of Emorif College, Georgia, and the first who was ever summoned 
to the tomb from the rolls of that Institution. He vms a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a young man who proni' 
ised much to the Church and the world. 

The bolt is specif and the whizzing string 
Is the dirge of its victim sounding. 

^Q, falls ! bnt in death he is crown'd a king, 
The foe of his life confounding. 

A month ago, and his manly form 
Was seen in the strength of beauty ; 

With vigorous step and affections warm, 
He mov'd in the sphere of duty. 

Science was pouring her morning rays, 

Foretok'ning a noon of splendor ; 
And Eloquence loaned her witching lays 

To insure the heart's surrender. 

How wide the field to ambition's view I 
How alluring the scenes before him I 



A CLOUDLESS CLOSE OF LIFE. 187 

But, sav^d by the God that \\\^ father knew, 
He lov'd, and liv'd to adore Him. 

His soul, baptiz'd with the life of God, 

Had scorn'd unholy pleasures j 
The Cross illumined the path he trod, 

And on high he stored his treasures. 

How hallowed the scene as his end drew nigh I 
A glow from the Godhead descended ; 

It sat on his lip, and it fir'd his eye, 
As if heaven and earth were blended. 

Thus, far away from the stormy wave 

O'er the soul of the guilty driven. 
He stood on the verge of his early grave. 

In the cloudless light of heaven. 

Away, away from the scene of death, 
Where i^ray'rs and tears are pouring, 

His Si)irit mounts up on the i)arting breath, 
And ascends to God adoring ! 

He's gone ! he's gone ! he's ascending now ; 

An immortal choir surround him, 
And a halo encircles the uiaible brow, 

In the chamber where they found him. 



188 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 



A SUNDAY-SCHOOL MELODY. 

Our banner's unfurl'd 1 

There is hope for the world, 
And the foes of the Cross from their heights shall 
be hurPd. 

Christ's reign has begun, 

And the world must be won, 
And millions redeem'd ere the campaign is done. 

CHORUS — REPEATED. 

Then triumph and sing 
To our conquering King, 
Till island and ocean with peans shall ring. 

The bright Morning Star 

Is now seen from afar, 
Nor pales in its splendor in peace or in war. 

But the day -beams appear 

From the sun in its rear, 
And Zion shall bask in tlie blaze of his sphere. 



THE MESSIAH'S REIGN. 189 



CHORUS — REPEATED. 

Our churches now ring, 
As our little ones sing'. 
And swell the loud anthem, ^' Messiah is Kmg." 

Youths flock to His arms, 
Overcome by His charms, 
And, lockVl in His bosom, are free from alarms. 

CHORUS — REPEATED. 

Our fathers may die 
'Mid the holy war-cry, 
But the old flag of Zion shall still float on high. 

Their helmet and shield, 
To their children they yield, 
And the next generation shall shout on the field. 

CHORUS— REPEATED. 

No longer bow'd down. 
Let us stril5:e for the crown, 
And win for the Cross everlasting renown. 

Through faith in His blood, 
Let us follow our God, 
In the paths which ajjostles and prophets have 
trod. 



190 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



CHORUS— REPEATED. 

Neither carnage nor blood, 
Nor famine nor flood, 
Shall cloud the bright reign of Immanuel-God. 



How blissful the scene, 
When the soul sits serene. 
Entranced in His presence, with no veil between. 

CHORUS— REPEATED. 

Hallelujahs shall rise 
To the God of the skies. 
As the Shiloh, descending, shall ravish all eyes. 



Then valley and plain, 
And mountain and main, . 
Shall swell the grand chorus and roll on the strain. 

CHORUS— REPEATED. 

Then triumph and sing. 
To our conquering King, 
Till island and ocean with peans shall ring. 



TFTE MINISTER'S FAREWELL. 191 



The following lines were written liy request, and designed for a 
young minister who was about to take leave of Ms congregation, 
brethren and friends, to enter upou another field of labor. They 
were mainly intended, therefore, to bo used as a solo. 

IIow swiftly tlie years of our pilgrimage fly, 
As weeks, months and seasons roll silently by ; 
Our days are soon numbered, and death sounds our 

knell 5 
We scarce know our friends till we bid \h!^\iv farewell. 

The righteous and wicked move slowly along, 
In crowds, to the tomb, both the old and the young; 
The good rise to heaven, the had sink to hell! 
They take, on life's verge, an eternal /arcz^^eZ^. 

O God ! are the nations all bound for the tomb ? 
Must the godless and guilty soon meet their dread 

doom? 
Save ! save, great Redeemer ! oh break the sad spell! 
Forgive, and prepare them to bid ^2ixih farewelL 



192 A CLUSTER OF POEMS, 

Farewell, fellow sinners ! We're free from your blood j 
Our message deliver'd, we leave you with God. 
We've begg'd and persuaded, but cannot compel j 
Till tlie great day of doom, then, we bid ^o\x farewell! 

Oh ! think on the scenes which await you in death ! 
The cold clammy sweat, and the quick panting breath 5 
The winding-sheet, coffin, and slow-tolling bell — 
Tour last, solemn, fearful, eternal farewell ! 

To you, fellow Christians, I turn with delight. 
The grave cannot harm you ; your prospects are bright. 
Be faithful and humble ; temptations repel 5 
You'll soon leave the world with a smiling farewell. 

Farewell, then, my brethren ! in body we part, 
But one common Saviour unites us in heart ; 
Through grace we will conquer the world, flesh and 

hell, 
And then bid this earth a triumphant /arei^e^^. 



Farewell to its labors ! farewell to its cares ! 
Its thousand misfortunes, temptations, and snares ! 
We'll mount on faith's pinions, with angels to dwell. 
Where saints never hear the sad, parting farewell ! 



LITTLE ones:' 193 



^f lite %m^^ Iti f lllle %m^:^ 

NO. I. 

A PARODY UPON " MARYLAND, MY MARYLAND," A BOHEMIAN AIR. 

A SUNDAY-SCHOOL HYMN. 

Supposed to be sung by the Principal and Teachers, in concert vtitk the School, 

Emmanuel reigns from shore to shore, 

Little ones, my little ones ; 

Little ones, my little ones j 
And though our land be drench^l with gore, 
Like Syria's plains in days of yore, 
His chariot's at our temple door, 
We'll trust His grace forevermore, 

Little ones, my little ones. 

Our Father hears our warm appeal, 

Little ones, my little ones, 
While on our native soil we kneel, 

Little ones, my little ones 5 

For life and death, for woe and weal, 

Our penitential vows we seal, 
9 



194 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Aud trust iu God, and not in steely 
Little ones, my little ones. 

Our spotless banner spurns the dust, 

Little ones, my little ones 5 
The sword we wield shall never rust — 

Little ones, my little ones ; 
Then shun old Balaam's sordid lust, 
Learn faithful Joshua's holy trust. 
And rise and reign with all the just, 

Little ones, my little ones. 

Come ! 'tis the lovely Sabbath day, 

Little ones, my little ones ; 
Come, lay your childish toys away. 

Little ones, my little ones ; 
With Mary's spirit, mild as May, 
With Abr'ham's faith in active i^lay. 
Oh, come to praise, and come to pray, 

Little ones, my little ones. 

Come, for your hopes are bright and strong, 

Little ones, my little ones ; 
Come, for your absence does you wrong, 

Little ones, my little ones ; 



" LITTLE ONES." 195 

Come mingle with this happy throng, 
That love their Saviour all day long, 
And swell His praise with ringing song, 
Little ones, my little ones. 

Dear children, break wild passion's chain, 

Little ones, my little ones 5 
The blows you strike are not in vain, 

Little ones, my little ones ; 
Rejoicing hosts shall join your train. 
And " heav'n, sweet heav'n," your loud refrain. 
Shall millions echo back again. 

Little ones, my little ones. 

With sparkling eyes and blushing cheek, 

Little ones, my little ones ; 
With joyous spirits, pure and meek, 

Little ones, my little ones, 
Our song shall rise from week to week. 
From hill to hill, from creek to creek, 
From southern shore to mountain peak. 

Little ones, my little ones. 

And when the Sabbath bell shall toll, 
Little ones, my little ones. 



196 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

No idler shall our steps control, 
Little ones, my little ones. 
Should fire and Hood their fury roll, 
And battle rage from i)ole to pole, 
We'll worshii) God, and save the soul, 
Little ones, my little ones. 

Hark ! hark ! how sweet this infant hum, 
Little ones, my little ones; 

More thrilling far than fife or drum, 
Little ones, my little ones ; 

'Twould stir the souls of deaf and dumb. 

We're marching to our heavn'ly home : — 

Hail ! angels, hail ! we come, we come, 
With little ones, our little ones I 



" SUNDA Y.SCHOOa* 197 



NO.n. 

ADAPTED TO THE AIR OP THE PRECEDING HYMN, NO. I. 

^ SuntJajj-scJool ^ntfpfjons. 

SUNG BY PRINCIPAL AND TEACHERS. 

The Sabbath bell has sweetly tolFd 

For Sunday-school, our Sunday-school ; 

The little lambs are in the fold, 

At Sunday-school, our Sunday-school. 

Their humble names are all enrolPd 

In lines of richer tint than gold ; 

Then* shepherd's eye they here behold, 
At Sunday-school, our Sunday-schooL 

SUNG BY THE PUPILS. 

Thrice welcome, then, this lovely day, 

For Sunday-school, our Sunday-school ; 

How bright the scenes we here survey, 
At Sunday-school, our Sunday-schooL 

Six days are past in work and play, 

Since last we met to praise and pray 5 



198 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

Oh ! who'll consent to stay away 

From Sunday-school, our Sunday-school ? 

The godless world ne'er thinks nor cares 

For Sunday-school, our Sunday-school ; 
It cannot vend its tempting wares 

At Sunday-school; our Sunday-school ; 
But many a child, that rudely dares 
To touch its bribes and risk its snares, 
Is lost, for want of weekly i)rayers 

At Sunday-school, our Sunday-school. 

But, shelter'd here, we'll gladly stay 

At Sunday-school, our Sunday-school, 

Within our little land-lock'd bay, 

In Sunday-school, our Sunday-school. 

The ocean waves may wildly play, 

Lash'd on by tempests, night and day ; 

We're safe from danger, far away 

At Sunday-school, our Sunday-school. 

Our teachers dear, whose guidance wise. 
At Sunday-school, our Sunday-school, 

Has train'd these lambkins for the skies, 
In Sunday-school, our Sunday-school, 



' * SUNDA Y-SCHOOL." 199 

In death must shortly close their eyes, 
And at the resurrection rise, 
To join us in immortal ties, 

From Sunday-school, our Sunday-school. 

Our fathers soon shall meet no more 

At Sunday-school, our Sunday-school ; 
Their holy counsels soon be o'er 

At Sunday-school, our Sunday-school 5 
I hear the distant Jordan roar. 
As fast they near its sounding shore — 
We'll soon, with tears, their loss deplore, 
From Sunday-school, our Sunday-school. 

SUNG BY TEACHERS AND PUPILS, STANDING. 

Then, children, let us rise and sing. 

At Sunday-school, our Sunday-school 5 

Our richest off 'rings let us bring 

To Sunday-school, our Sunday-school ; 

Our spirits now are on the wing, 

We^re mounting to our Shepherd King, 

Where hallelujahs long shall ring, 

From Sunday -schooly our Sunday-school. 



200 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



^ Mm tm i%t Mlt^^^ 

A CAMP-MEETING HYMN. 

ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR THE YOUNG OF THE LOVELIER 

SEX. 

WRITTEN DURING THE LATE DISASTROUS WAR. 

Dear youth, in the glory of life's happy morning, 
The world blooming bright in your innocent eyes, 

When the rainbow of hope is your heavens adorning, 
Embrace your Redeemer, and live for the sUes. 

For soon the horizon may darken before you, 
Disease may assail and temptations surprise, 

While the wretch may deceive who has sworn to adore 
you— 
Then cling to the Cross, and still live for the sides. 

The dear, sainted mother, that kiss'd and caress'd you. 
Has gone to her rest, Avhere the soul never dies. 

How lonely the home where she counsePd and bless'd 
you ! 
Then hallow her mem'ry, and live for the sMes. 



A CAMP-MEETING HYMN, 201 



That chivalrous father, whose arms now enfold you, 
May sink on the field, amid loud battle-cries, 

And sleep far away, never more to behold you — 
Then lean on the Saviour, and live for tJie shies. 

While o'er our encampment bright angels are bending. 
With palms in theu* hands and with love in their 
eyes, 

And the grace of salvation's from heaven descending, 
Oh, kneel at these altars, and live for the shies ! 

Oh, strike for a region that's free from illusion. 
Where hearts never throb and where bliss never 
flies 5 

Where the waters of Ufe flow in sparkling profusion, 
And man lives forever with God, in the shies / 



9* 



202 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



TiiK sound of the gospel is passing away — 

The days of probation are ending j 
Oh, wlio will return to the Saviour to-day, 

While the prayers of His saints are ascending ? 

The sound of the gospel is passing away, 

Long, long has it linger'd around us ; 
How sweetly in childhood it taught us to pray ! 

But, alas ! we are still where it found us. 

The sound of the gospel is passing away, 
That rose on the wings of the morning, 

When the dear, dying sire, calPd his offspring to pray. 
And bequeathed them his last solemn warning. 

The sound of the gospel is passing away — 

It rolls over island and ocean 5 
The Kafi&r and Hindoo are learning to pray, 

And bow in their souls' deep devotion. 



WHAT THEN? 203 



The sound of the gospel is passing away — 

It flies on the four winds of heaven j 
Creation now dawns with millennial day, 

And the world's final warning is given. 

The sound of the gospel is passing away, 

The offers of mercy are closing 5 
Ten thousands are gone who've refus'd to obey, 

And are now under tombstones reposing. 

The sound of the gospel is passing away- 
Soon, soon shall the great work be over, 

And the grave hold its dead till the last burning day 
Shall the doom of creation discover. 

The sound of the gospel is passing away — 
O God ! ring its last notes in thunder ! 

Let peal after peal rouse the sinner to-day, 
To fly from the wrath he is under. 

The sound of the gospel is passing away, 

And bearing the saints to their glory ; 
Hail, mighty Eedeemer! Oh, when shall thy sway 

Bring the millions of earth to adore Thee ? 



204 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

The sound of the gospel is passing away, 
The sliies with the Godhead are bending ! 

Oh, shout, ye redeem^!, for the darkness is day, 
And the glorified hosts are ascending ! 



SPARKLING BEAUTY, 205 



TO MISS TELLULAH Y * * * * . 

The cascade that leaps from the mountain, 
And echoes your beautiful name ; * 

As it winds far away from its fountain, 
Soon forfeits its title to fame. 

So beauty and youth in high places, 

That noisily flash on the eye, 
Lose the charm of young Ufe, and its graces. 

When age robs the cheek of its dye. 



* See Appendix D. 



20o A CLUSIER OF POEMS. 



TO THE AUTHOR'S ELDEST DAUGHTER, MARY E. P. MEANS- 
DEAR Mary, remember your ftitlier's affection, 

Who smil'd o'er your cradle aud silenc'd your fears j 
Who threw round your chiklhood his grateful protec- 
tion, 

And gave you to God amid prayers and tears. 

And when with the burden of years he is bending, 

Or messenger angels have borne him above. 
Oh then, my dear child, while a tear-drop's descend- 

Let this little valentine whisper his love ! 



THE WEDDING RING. 207 



TO MRS. DR. JAMES N. SIMMONS, ATLANTA, GA. 

AWAYy away on your bright career, 
For the wedding-ring has fonnd you 

Away^ amid smiles and bridal cheer, 
With the arms of love around you. 

Now enter the checker'd scenes of life, 
Where the smile and tear are blending ; 

Heaven's richest boon is a lovchj ivife^ 
Whether weal or woe's depending. 

Then live, dear Lizzy, to bless your home ! 

'Tis the noblest boon of beauty ; 
Let affection grave on your honor'd tomb — 

"/S/ic Mew J and she did her dutij^ 



208 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



A TWELVEMONTH more has roll'd around 
Since we were on this tented ground ; 
Ten thousand scenes have marked the year 
Since we last met to worship here. 

Eelentless Death has hurPd his darts, 
And lodg'd them deep in noblest hearts 5 
O'er old and young, in ev'ry sphere. 
He's triumph'd since we worshiped here. 

But we are spar'd ! To Heav'n be praise 1 
Our God has lengthen'd out our days ; 
WeVe left our homes with hearts sincere, 
And met once more to worship here. 

Ye hosts of Israel, lowly bend. 
And let your hearts in pray'r ascend ; 
That Heav'n may lend a Ust'ning ear, 
And answer while we worship here. 



CAMP.MEETING SONG, 209 

Return, ye wandering souls, to God ; 
He claims the purchase of His blood. 
Oh, loathe your sius, to Christ draw uear, 
Aud seek Him while we worship here. 

Dear mourners, raise your tearful eyes ; 
Look heav'nward, and behold the prize ! 
Your Saviour smiles ; renounce your fear, 
And trust Him while we worship here. 

Gird all the Christian armor on, 
And nobly strike till vict'ry's won 5 
Our God shall guard the front aud rear 
Of all who humbly worshij) here. 

The battle's strife will soon be o'er. 
And war-worn veterans toil no more j 
On Zion's heights we'll soon appear, 
And no more meet to worship here. 

The sinner's Friend we'll then adore, 
Where tents are pitch'd to strike no more ; 
A glorious heav'n with angels share, 
And live^ and love^ and worship there, 

9* 



210 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 



AN EPITHALAMIUM. 

Gratefully celebrated on the return of the Fiftieth Anniversary 
of the wedding-day of the author and the partner of Ms 
earthly fortunes, formerly Miss S. A. E. Winston— Decewi- 
ier 25, 1877. 

The nuptial lamp is lighted now, 

Tlie Christmas fagot burns ; 
The night of ^/ifty years ago 

In memory returns ; 

When bright and strong the writer stood, 

In manhood's early spring, 
And blooming beauty by his side 

First wore the wedding-ring. 

But oh ! the change, the mystic change, 

Along the line of years ! 
Ten thousand gxiefs come trooping up, 

To melt his eyes to tears. 



THE GOLDEN WEDDING. 211 

The youth, transformed, is now a sage, 

His raven loclis are gray ; 
And vigorous manhood, worn with toils, 

Shows signs of sad decay. 

His blushing bride now stoops with age, 

The rose to ashes turned ; 
She bows to Heaven, but, weeping still, 

Her " lov'd and lost " are mourned. 

Departed joys in ghostly forms 

Come weUing up to view. 
Till present blessings urge their claims, 

And spring her faith anew. 

Though half an hundred years have gone, 

Our grateful hearts adore 
That Love whose countless mercies past 

Inspires our trust for more. 

Still life, sweet life, is ours \I enjoy. 

With brightening hopes of bliss, 
And children's children crowd to share 

The Golden Wedding kiss. 



212 A CLUSTER OF POEMS. 

But some are gone ! Their angel forms 
Now range th' Elysian fields, 

Enrob'd Tvith white and crown'd with stars, 
Which heav'n, exhaustless, yields. 

Dear sainted /o?<r / in bliss live on ; 

We ask not your return ; 
But oh ! to meet your presence there 

Our raptur'd spirits burn. 

Dear, faithful sons and daughters still 
Surround the old hearthstone, 

And smiUng friends their presence give 
To cheer the pilgrims on. 

O Father ! long vouchsafe Thy gifts ! 

Make bright our evening skies I 
nelp us to close a faithful life, 

Then heavenward bid us rise ! 

Then, then farewell, a long farewell 

To sorrow, sighs and tears ; 
Emmanuers smile is glory gained, 

Unquench'd by floods of years. 



l^HE GOLDEN WEDDING. 213 

Our Golden Wedding's festal night 

Shall ne'er on earth return j 
But heaven to happier scenes invites, 

Where souls shall never mourn. 

There, in the cloudless realms above, 

Shall richer feast be given — 
" The Marriage Supper of the Lamb " — 

Its guests, the saints of heaven. 

We come, O Lord, by grace we come. 

Eternity to spend, 
And celebrate that feast of love 

Whose sweets shall never end 1 



^flipeiiiljr^ 



Appendix A— page 12. 

The junction of the Arve with tlie Khone furnishes a romantic 
and picturesque scene. The Arve is a furious torrent, born from 
the sides of the towering Col de Bahne, and fed by the melt- 
ing snows and ice of that majestic mountain. By its rush and 
abrasions down the steeps of those wild regions, it rapidly ac- 
cumulates detritus, which, mingling with its frothy and foaming 
current, gives it the appearance of a river of creamy mud. At 
their point of junction, the impetuous Arve drives the pellucid 
waters of the Rhone to one side, and they refuse, for some time, 
to commix with the turbid flood; but are ultimately overcome, 
lose their transparency, and disembogue their common sedi- 
mentary mass into the bosom of the placid lake : a beautiful 
illustration of the contaminating and depraving influence of 
confirmed vice over unsuspecting and unguarded virtue, with 
which it may be thrown in contact. 



Appendix B— page 12. 
When on a visit, some years since, to the beq,utiful suburban 
residence of the ecclesiastical historian, Dr. Merle D'Aubigne, 
situated directly upon the margin of the lake, that distinguish- 
ed divine and scholar said to the author, that he supposed the 
azure hue of the water was but a reflection of the blue color 
of the overhanging skies. Now this solution seems altogether 
unsatisfactory ; 



APPENDIX. 215 

the heavens are overcast with cloiuls— whereas that circum- 
stance effects no change in i ts color. Second : the skies in Italy 
are quite as blue as those over Switzerland, and no such signal 
phenomenon is there noted. The writer therefore must seek 
another explanation, and attributes the color of the lake to the 
presence of iodine, brought down by its tributary streams from 
the iodiferous regions of the Alps, and chemically combining with 
fecula, or starch— a proximate principle common to nearly all 
vegetables, and found especially in their roots and tubers, and 
which the same regions abundantly supply. The starch, when 
in contact with the iodine— both being held in solution— strikes 
the characteristic blue tint, so well known to chemists, and so 
finely represented in the waters of Geneva. 



Appendix C— page 24 
The Stone Mountain is a huge and almost anomalous pro- 
jection of solid Syenitic Granite, shooting up insolitary grandeur 
from an extensive outcrop of the granitic stratum which extends 
from New England through New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia 
North and South Carolina, and Georgia, terminating near the 
Tombigbee River, in Alabama. Its base approaches within one 
half mile of the Georgia Railroad, and is seven miles in circuit. 
Its elevation has been reported by Mr. George White, in his 
" Statistics of Georgia," at 2,226 feet above the small creek which 
runs near its base. It is inaccessible on all sides save one. 
The northern exposure presents an almost unbroken mural 
precipice of perhaps 1,000 feet in height. Altogether, it strikes 
the eye of the traveler as a grand, solemn, naked, and unique 
geological monstrosity, which has arrested the gaze and com- 
manded the attention of admiring thousands— standing, as it 
does, in the midst of widespread and luxuriant forests and 
cultivated fields, and forty miles remote from the Kenesaw 
Mountain, the nearest considerable elevation, and one of the 
spurs of the Alleghany range. 



216 APPENDIX, 



Appendix D— page 205. 

The Eapids or Falls of Tellulah, so called by the Indiana, 
are situated on the river of that name, within twelve miles of 
Clarksville, Habersham County, Ga., and may bo properly 
ranked among the greatest natural curiosities of the United 
States. We furnish a brief sketch of this magnificent waterfall, 
by making a few " excerpta" from the published report of an 
intelligent friend who visited the spot and witnessed the 
scenery. 

" The river," says the writer, " passes through a range or 
ridge of mountains for more than a mile, forming for its bed 
an awful gulf, and for its banks stupendous fronts of solid 
rock, like those of Niagara just below its great cataract, and 
of the Genesee river below the fall in that stream, a few miles 
above Lake Ontario. The height of the banks varies from 200 to 
500 feet perpendicular. There are four perpendicular pitches 
of water, from 50 to 80 feet each, besides a great many small 
cataracts or cascades of from 10 to 20 feet in fall. The entire 
plunge, therefore, may be estimated at about 300 feet. The 
river, however, varies from 15 to 100 feet in width. These 
cliffs, combined with the foaming, roaring, bounding, impetu- 
ous current of water, exhibit novelty, beauty, and grandeur in 
the highest degree. This majestic scene lies in a wild, unculti- 
vated and sterile region, on which the hand of Art has never 
laid its transforming touch, to soften or degrade, although now 
surrounded by an intelligent and thriving population." 

After the sublime exhibition, thus imperfectly described, Tel- 
lulah's fame is gone^ and the little river unites with its sister 
stream, the Chattoogo, from the north-east, and loses its name 
and its honors in their joint successor, the Tugaloo, together 
constituting the head waters of the beautiful Savannah, 
which, after a course of about 250 miles, disembogues in the 
Atlantic Ocean 18 miles below the " Forest City." 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



liiiilillillliiHililliill 

016 165 376 7 



